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

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,650,000 shares, an increase of 62.6% from the February 13th total of 1,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Currently, 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DESP. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Despegar.com from $17.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen raised shares of Despegar.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded shares of Despegar.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Despegar.com presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.20.

Institutional Trading of Despegar.com

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sylebra Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Despegar.com by 62.8% in the 4th quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 4,760,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,158 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Despegar.com by 428.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,381,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,931,033 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Despegar.com by 1.3% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,099,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,030,000 after acquiring an additional 26,443 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Despegar.com by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,793,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,523,000 after acquiring an additional 925,500 shares during the period. Finally, Woodson Capital Management LP grew its position in Despegar.com by 78.4% during the third quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 1,426,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,694,000 after purchasing an additional 626,952 shares in the last quarter. 67.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Despegar.com Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DESP traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $19.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,007,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,356,120. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.22 and its 200 day moving average is $16.46. Despegar.com has a twelve month low of $9.25 and a twelve month high of $19.55.

Despegar.com Company Profile

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.