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

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 345,900 shares, an increase of 49.4% from the February 29th total of 231,500 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 505,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DESP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Despegar.com in a report on Friday, March 22nd. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price (up from $15.00) on shares of Despegar.com in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Despegar.com Price Performance

Shares of Despegar.com stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 751,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,029,508. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.50. Despegar.com has a one year low of $4.92 and a one year high of $12.94. The stock has a market cap of $790.08 million, a P/E ratio of -46.00 and a beta of 2.01.

Institutional Trading of Despegar.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DESP. Moerus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,566,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,039,000 after purchasing an additional 909,690 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,983,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,704,000 after purchasing an additional 970,051 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 3,623,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,272,000 after purchasing an additional 63,650 shares during the period. Bares Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,320,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,357,000 after purchasing an additional 196,369 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Despegar.com by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,933,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,290,000 after purchasing an additional 125,288 shares during the period. 67.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.