LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.27.

Several research firms have commented on LTM. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of LATAM Airlines Group in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut LATAM Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research downgraded LATAM Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered LATAM Airlines Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th.

LATAM Airlines Group Stock Performance

NYSE:LTM opened at $51.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 3.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.95. LATAM Airlines Group has a 52 week low of $41.41 and a 52 week high of $70.42.

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. LATAM Airlines Group had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 101.21%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LATAM Airlines Group will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of LATAM Airlines Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LTM. Navi International Administradora e Gestora de Recursos Financeiros Ltda. lifted its position in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 1,478.6% in the 2nd quarter. Navi International Administradora e Gestora de Recursos Financeiros Ltda. now owns 326,007 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,996,000 after acquiring an additional 305,355 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its position in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 168.5% during the first quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 881,976 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,605,000 after purchasing an additional 553,513 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 184.9% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,267,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,650,000 after purchasing an additional 822,400 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of LATAM Airlines Group in the first quarter valued at $746,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 641.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 346,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,126,000 after purchasing an additional 299,710 shares in the last quarter.

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.