Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the February 13th total of 1,740,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 487,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Air Transport Services Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ ATSG opened at $20.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.79. Air Transport Services Group has a 1-year low of $19.88 and a 1-year high of $34.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Air Transport Services Group (NASDAQ:ATSG – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 24th. The transportation company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $533.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $539.65 million. Air Transport Services Group had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Transport Services Group will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATSG. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Air Transport Services Group from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Air Transport Services Group from $35.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Air Transport Services Group from $29.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Air Transport Services Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Edward Joseph Koharik III bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $40,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 35,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,188.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Vorholt purchased 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.80 per share, with a total value of $26,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 33,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,960. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Edward Joseph Koharik III bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.39 per share, for a total transaction of $40,780.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 35,713 shares in the company, valued at $728,188.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 7,250 shares of company stock worth $154,590 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Transport Services Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Air Transport Services Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 8,371,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $217,480,000 after purchasing an additional 543,154 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Air Transport Services Group by 19.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,379,988 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $213,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,325 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Air Transport Services Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,534,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $159,002,000 after acquiring an additional 108,581 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Air Transport Services Group by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,636,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $94,473,000 after acquiring an additional 266,062 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in Air Transport Services Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,153,258 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,942,000 after acquiring an additional 65,995 shares during the period. 95.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Air Transport Services Group

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Air Transport Services Group, Inc engages in the provision of airline operations, aircraft leases, aircraft maintenance, and other support services primarily to the cargo transportation and package delivery industries. It operates through the CAM and ACMI Services segments. The CAM segment consists of the company’s aircraft leasing operations.