Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, an increase of 29.8% from the February 13th total of 1,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 371,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 9.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Allegiant Travel Stock Performance

Shares of ALGT traded down $2.61 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $53.36. 263,966 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 396,335. The company has a market cap of $978.53 million, a P/E ratio of -3.99 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $83.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.63. Allegiant Travel has a twelve month low of $36.09 and a twelve month high of $107.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The transportation company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $1.62. Allegiant Travel had a positive return on equity of 3.33% and a negative net margin of 9.56%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Allegiant Travel will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Remove Ads

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in Allegiant Travel by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,018,449 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $95,856,000 after purchasing an additional 24,975 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Allegiant Travel by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 928,641 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $87,404,000 after purchasing an additional 131,561 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Allegiant Travel by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 748,216 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $70,421,000 after acquiring an additional 57,737 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Allegiant Travel by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 608,977 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $33,530,000 after acquiring an additional 10,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Allegiant Travel by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 600,211 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $34,584,000 after acquiring an additional 14,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $60.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $75.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Allegiant Travel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $54.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.60.

About Allegiant Travel

Allegiant Travel Company, a leisure travel company, provides travel services and products to residents of under-served cities in the United States. The company offers scheduled air transportation on limited-frequency, nonstop flights between under-served cities and leisure destinations. As of February 1, 2024, it operated a fleet of 126 Airbus A320 series aircraft.