Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) Short Interest Update

Despegar.com, Corp. (NYSE:DESP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily volume of 505,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on DESP. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target (up from $15.00) on shares of Despegar.com in a report on Friday, March 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Despegar.com in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Despegar.com

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DESP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Despegar.com in the first quarter valued at about $584,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Despegar.com by 7.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 127,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 9,374 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Despegar.com in the first quarter valued at about $184,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Despegar.com in the first quarter valued at about $515,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Despegar.com by 6.9% in the first quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 65,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.93% of the company’s stock.

Despegar.com Price Performance

Despegar.com stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 751,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,029,508. The stock has a market cap of $790.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.00 and a beta of 2.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.50. Despegar.com has a 12 month low of $4.92 and a 12 month high of $12.94.

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.