William Blair Investment Management LLC Invests $37.93 Million in LATAM Airlines Group S.A. $LTM

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 702,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,930,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.23% of LATAM Airlines Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LTM. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 3,194 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of LATAM Airlines Group by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,386 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LTM shares. Morgan Stanley raised LATAM Airlines Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Barclays decreased their price target on LATAM Airlines Group from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LATAM Airlines Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup raised LATAM Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised LATAM Airlines Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.40.

LATAM Airlines Group Trading Up 0.3%

LTM opened at $50.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 3.62. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. has a 12 month low of $36.50 and a 12 month high of $70.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.89.

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The transportation company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. LATAM Airlines Group had a return on equity of 127.75% and a net margin of 11.03%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LATAM Airlines Group S.A. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

About LATAM Airlines Group

LATAM Airlines Group SA is a Chilean-based airline holding company formed in 2012 through the merger of LAN Airlines of Chile and TAM Linhas Aéreas of Brazil. The Group offers passenger and cargo air transportation services across South America and beyond, operating under a multi‐brand strategy that encompasses several nationally recognized carriers. Headquartered in Santiago, Chile, LATAM is structured to serve diverse market segments with full-service, premium and low‐cost offerings.

The core business activities of LATAM Airlines Group include scheduled domestic and international passenger flights, air cargo services and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities through its technical divisions.