Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,420,000 shares, a drop of 7.6% from the August 31st total of 6,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Approximately 14.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Despegar.com

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DESP. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Despegar.com in the second quarter worth about $128,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new stake in Despegar.com in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,936,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Despegar.com in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $331,000. Sylebra Capital LLC raised its stake in Despegar.com by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 2,923,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,824 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Despegar.com by 4.6% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 243,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,219,000 after purchasing an additional 10,756 shares in the last quarter. 67.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on DESP shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Despegar.com in a report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Despegar.com from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Despegar.com from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

Despegar.com Price Performance

DESP traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.33. 903,596 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 897,477. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.66 and its 200 day moving average is $12.56. Despegar.com has a 52 week low of $6.09 and a 52 week high of $15.82.

Despegar.com (NYSE:DESP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $185.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.35 million. Despegar.com had a negative return on equity of 62.18% and a net margin of 3.30%. As a group, analysts predict that Despegar.com will post 0.75 EPS for the current 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.