LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest surged 73.2% to 3.20 million shares as of September 15, representing 1.2% of outstanding stock and 4.2 days of average trading volume.
• LATAM Airlines exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.44 EPS versus the $0.41 consensus and $4.12 billion in revenue versus $4.06 billion expected.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $66.27, although several research firms recently downgraded the stock to “Hold.”

LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,204,337 shares, an increase of 73.2% from the August 31st total of 1,850,400 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 764,673 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LATAM Airlines Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in LATAM Airlines Group by 684.3% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,302 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,122 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,268 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,777 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the last quarter.

LATAM Airlines Group Price Performance

LTM stock opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.90. LATAM Airlines Group has a one year low of $41.41 and a one year high of $70.42. The stock has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 3.64.

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. LATAM Airlines Group had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 101.21%. Research analysts anticipate that LATAM Airlines Group will post 4.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LATAM Airlines Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of LATAM Airlines Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of LATAM Airlines Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on LATAM Airlines Group in a report on Thursday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded LATAM Airlines Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.27.

About LATAM Airlines Group

LATAM Airlines Group SA is a Chile-based airline holding company and one of the largest air transportation groups in Latin America. Through its LATAM Airlines affiliates, the group provides scheduled passenger and cargo air services to domestic and international destinations.

The company serves markets across South America, including Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as destinations in North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Oceania. Its operations include domestic routes within several Latin American countries, international passenger services, and air freight transportation.

LATAM Airlines Group was created in 2012 through the merger of Chile's LAN Airlines and Brazil's TAM Airlines.

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