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

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a growth of 12.2% from the June 15th total of 1,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 403,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 9.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Allegiant Travel Trading Up 1.3 %

ALGT stock opened at $49.71 on Monday. Allegiant Travel has a one year low of $43.91 and a one year high of $130.93. The stock has a market cap of $906.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The transportation company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. Allegiant Travel had a net margin of 2.26% and a return on equity of 0.50%. The business had revenue of $656.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. Allegiant Travel’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Allegiant Travel will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Allegiant Travel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Allegiant Travel’s payout ratio is 75.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allegiant Travel

In other news, CMO Scott Wayne Deangelo sold 19,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.68, for a total transaction of $1,056,798.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 64,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,479,108.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Scott Wayne Deangelo sold 19,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.68, for a total value of $1,056,798.16. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 64,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,479,108.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Keny Frank Wilper sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.00, for a total transaction of $51,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,522. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,395,948 in the last 90 days. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Allegiant Travel

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALGT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Allegiant Travel by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,749,649 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $131,591,000 after buying an additional 38,612 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Allegiant Travel by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,573 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,972,000 after acquiring an additional 98,662 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Allegiant Travel by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 647,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,453,000 after acquiring an additional 122,844 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Allegiant Travel by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 620,180 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,233,000 after acquiring an additional 82,813 shares during the period. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in Allegiant Travel by 106.7% in the 1st quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 309,781 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,299,000 after purchasing an additional 159,892 shares in the last quarter. 85.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Allegiant Travel from $76.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group began coverage on Allegiant Travel in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “sell” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Allegiant Travel from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Allegiant Travel from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.25.

Allegiant Travel Company Profile

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.