Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 647,292 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the February 26th total of 531,809 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 248,704 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Liberty Latin America news, CAO Brian D. Zook sold 94,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.04, for a total transaction of $759,731.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $54,776.52. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Latin America

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Latin America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $104,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Latin America by 7.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 214,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14,547 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Latin America by 230.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 34,640 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Latin America in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Liberty Latin America by 12.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 662,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,042,000 after purchasing an additional 71,873 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Liberty Latin America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Latin America has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.00.

Liberty Latin America Stock Performance

NASDAQ LILA opened at $8.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.40, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.82 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $7.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.95. Liberty Latin America has a 52-week low of $4.25 and a 52-week high of $9.04.

Liberty Latin America (NASDAQ:LILA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.23). Liberty Latin America had a negative net margin of 13.76% and a negative return on equity of 50.24%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Liberty Latin America will post -0.22 EPS for the current year.

About Liberty Latin America

Liberty Latin America is a telecommunications company that provides video, broadband internet, telephony and mobile services across Latin America and the Caribbean. The company’s operations span consumer and business markets, offering cable television packages, high-speed broadband connections, fixed-line voice services and wireless data plans. Through its brands, including Flow in several Caribbean territories and VTR in Chile, Liberty Latin America focuses on delivering converged digital solutions designed to meet both residential and enterprise needs.

Formed in 2018 as a spin-off from Liberty Global, Liberty Latin America built its initial footprint by integrating legacy assets acquired from Cable & Wireless Communications and Columbus Communications.