Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) Short Interest Up 24.2% in December

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT – Get Rating) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 808,700 shares, a growth of 24.2% from the December 15th total of 651,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 247,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Scott Wayne Deangelo sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.37, for a total value of $86,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,047,903.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 15.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Allegiant Travel during the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Allegiant Travel by 10.2% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 45,575 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,154,000 after acquiring an additional 4,219 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Allegiant Travel by 1,068.1% during the second quarter. Kennedy Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after acquiring an additional 15,113 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in Allegiant Travel by 16.8% during the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Services of America Inc. grew its position in Allegiant Travel by 1.3% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 88,567 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. 85.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Allegiant Travel from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Allegiant Travel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 11th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Susquehanna Bancshares dropped their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $140.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 11th. Finally, Cowen downgraded shares of Allegiant Travel from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.33.

Allegiant Travel Stock Up 1.6 %

ALGT stock opened at $81.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.94 and its 200 day moving average is $87.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.10 and a beta of 1.56. Allegiant Travel has a 1-year low of $62.94 and a 1-year high of $186.86.

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 2nd. The transportation company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.47) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $560.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.65 million. Allegiant Travel had a positive return on equity of 1.68% and a negative net margin of 1.80%. Sell-side analysts predict that Allegiant Travel will post 0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allegiant Travel Company Profile

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Allegiant Travel Co engages in the provision of travel services. It includes scheduled service air transportation, air-related travel services and product, third party travel products, and fixed fee contract air transportation. It operates through the following segments: Airline, Sunseeker Resort, and Other non-Airline.