Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILAK) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILAK) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,040,000 shares, an increase of 24.3% from the January 31st total of 3,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 928,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Liberty Latin America Stock Performance

NASDAQ LILAK traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $6.77. 170,699 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 841,247. Liberty Latin America has a 52 week low of $5.88 and a 52 week high of $10.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -2.03 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.67 and its 200 day moving average is $7.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Liberty Latin America (NASDAQ:LILAK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($1.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Liberty Latin America had a negative net margin of 14.74% and a negative return on equity of 31.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LILAK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Liberty Latin America from $9.40 to $8.30 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Liberty Latin America from $10.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brendan J. Paddick purchased 31,989 shares of Liberty Latin America stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.20 per share, with a total value of $198,331.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,419,507 shares in the company, valued at $8,800,943.40. The trade was a 2.31 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty Latin America

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty Latin America by 69.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,600,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,044,000 after purchasing an additional 6,379,203 shares in the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Latin America by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,034,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Latin America by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,929,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,916,000 after acquiring an additional 869,420 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Liberty Latin America by 4,054.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 809,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,087,000 after purchasing an additional 789,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Liberty Latin America by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,881,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,928,000 after purchasing an additional 549,884 shares during the last quarter. 52.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Latin America Company Profile

Liberty Latin America Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed, mobile, and subsea telecommunications services. The company operates through C&W Caribbean, C&W Panama, Liberty Networks, Liberty Puerto Rico, and Liberty Costa Rico segments. It offers communications and entertainment services, including video, broadband internet, fixed-line, telephony, and mobiles services to residential and business customers; and business products and services that include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting, and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions for small and medium enterprises, international companies, and governmental agencies.