“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is falling short of box-office forecasts and will drag DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. to its second loss in three years, according to Cowen & Co.

The film, released on June 13, is likely to generate $180 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen & Co., said in a report today. He previously projected $250 million.

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” won’t reach profitability in theaters, Creutz estimated. A sequel to the 2010 original, the film will eventually generate profit of $171.1 million for Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg’s studio, including DVD sales, movie rentals and TV rights. That means investors will have to wait until 2016 for significant profit from DreamWorks Animation, Creutz said.

“Given recent film performance and an upcoming film slate that has few obvious winners, DreamWorks Animation still appears to us to be a relatively unappealing stock,” wrote Creutz, who rates the company the equivalent of a hold.

In 2016, Glendale, California-based DreamWorks Animation will benefit from revenue from expanding television production and lower film costs, Creutz said. He projects a net loss of 7 cents a share for 2014, after previously forecasting a profit of 28 cents.

DreamWorks Animation fell 2.2 percent to $22.94 at 1:41 p.m. in New York. The shares slid 11 percent on June 16, the first day of trading after the film’s debut weekend. Through yesterday, the stock had declined 34 percent this year.

Allison Rawlings, a spokeswoman for Dreamworks Animation, declined to comment.