Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,950,000 shares, a growth of 10.7% from the August 15th total of 6,280,000 shares. Currently, 15.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DESP has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Despegar.com in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on Despegar.com from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Despegar.com from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Despegar.com

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Despegar.com by 405,440.0% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 121,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 121,632 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 51,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 23,732 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Despegar.com during the fourth quarter worth $6,622,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 117.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 29,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 16,054 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Despegar.com by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,933,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,290,000 after purchasing an additional 125,288 shares in the last quarter. 67.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Despegar.com Stock Performance

NYSE:DESP remained flat at $12.54 on Wednesday. 922,052 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 907,730. Despegar.com has a 52 week low of $6.09 and a 52 week high of $15.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.36.

Despegar.com (NYSE:DESP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.12. Despegar.com had a negative return on equity of 62.18% and a net margin of 3.30%. The business had revenue of $185.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.35 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Despegar.com will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.