Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILAK) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILAK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, a growth of 21.5% from the April 30th total of 3,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Liberty Latin America Price Performance

NASDAQ:LILAK traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5.15. The stock had a trading volume of 699,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,941. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of -1.54 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Liberty Latin America has a 52 week low of $4.23 and a 52 week high of $10.93.

Liberty Latin America (NASDAQ:LILAK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. Liberty Latin America had a negative net margin of 14.74% and a negative return on equity of 31.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Latin America

In other Liberty Latin America news, CFO Christopher J. Noyes bought 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.53 per share, for a total transaction of $36,240.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 231,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,049,243.13. The trade was a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Balan Nair acquired 22,779 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.39 per share, with a total value of $99,999.81. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,651,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,247,894.39. This represents a 1.40% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 9.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Latin America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LILAK. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Liberty Latin America by 4,054.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 809,417 shares of the company's stock worth $5,087,000 after buying an additional 789,932 shares in the last quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Liberty Latin America by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 293,775 shares of the company's stock worth $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 117,683 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Latin America by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 223,019 shares of the company's stock worth $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 22,770 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Latin America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $572,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Latin America by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,929,978 shares of the company's stock worth $24,916,000 after purchasing an additional 869,420 shares during the last quarter. 52.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Liberty Latin America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th.

Liberty Latin America Company Profile

Liberty Latin America Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed, mobile, and subsea telecommunications services. The company operates through C&W Caribbean, C&W Panama, Liberty Networks, Liberty Puerto Rico, and Liberty Costa Rico segments. It offers communications and entertainment services, including video, broadband internet, fixed-line, telephony, and mobiles services to residential and business customers; and business products and services that include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting, and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions for small and medium enterprises, international companies, and governmental agencies.