Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Position in Copa Holdings, S.A. $CPA

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its Copa Holdings stake by 51.9% in the first quarter, selling 48,203 shares and retaining 44,704 shares worth approximately $5.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 70.09% of the company.
• Copa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $5.16 per share versus the $4.43 analyst consensus and revenue of $1.05 billion, up 17% year over year.
• The company’s quarterly dividend implies an annualized payout of $6.84 per share and a 5.0% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $171.73, above the reported $136.41 share price.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in shares of Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA - Free Report) by 51.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,704 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 48,203 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.11% of Copa worth $5,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Copa by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,603,671 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $555,249,000 after buying an additional 30,101 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Copa by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,647,779 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $198,739,000 after acquiring an additional 44,834 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Copa by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,396,963 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $158,691,000 after acquiring an additional 52,243 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Copa by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 654,830 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $78,979,000 after acquiring an additional 12,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Copa by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 654,255 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $78,910,000 after purchasing an additional 22,126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.09% of the company's stock.

Copa Price Performance

CPA opened at $136.41 on Thursday. Copa Holdings, S.A. has a 52-week low of $107.44 and a 52-week high of $160.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $143.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.32. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Copa (NYSE:CPA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The transportation company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.73. Copa had a return on equity of 26.01% and a net margin of 18.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.28 EPS. Copa's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Copa Holdings, S.A. will post 16.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Copa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Copa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Copa in a report on Thursday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Copa from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Copa from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Copa in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Copa from $138.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $171.73.

About Copa

Copa Holdings, SA NYSE: CPA is a Panama‐based aviation holding company that provides passenger and cargo air transportation across the Americas and the Caribbean. Through its principal subsidiary, Copa Airlines, the company operates a modern fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, offering scheduled flights that connect passengers through its Tocumen International Airport hub in Panama City. The company also offers dedicated cargo services under the Copa Cargo brand, leveraging belly hold capacity on its passenger flights to transport freight throughout its network.

The roots of Copa Holdings trace back to 1947, when Compañía Panameña de Aviación began operations as the flag carrier of Panama.

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