Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) Short Interest Up 179.6% in June

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,020,000 shares, an increase of 179.6% from the June 15th total of 722,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Despegar.com

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its holdings in Despegar.com by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 59,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 4.8% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 31,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Despegar.com by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 4.7% in the first quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 48,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Despegar.com in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 67.93% of the company’s stock.

Despegar.com Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of DESP stock traded down $0.07 on Thursday, reaching $13.55. The company had a trading volume of 683,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 885,245. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.72 and its 200 day moving average is $11.40. Despegar.com has a one year low of $6.09 and a one year high of $15.82.

Despegar.com (NYSE:DESP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $173.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.23 million. Despegar.com had a net margin of 5.41% and a negative return on equity of 44.06%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Despegar.com will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DESP. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.50 target price (up from $11.50) on shares of Despegar.com in a report on Monday, April 29th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Despegar.com from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Despegar.com from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th.

About Despegar.com

Despegar.com, Corp., an online travel company, provides a range of travel and travel-related products to leisure and corporate travelers through its websites and mobile applications in Latin America and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Travel Business and Financial Services Business.