Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) Stock Price Up 7.2% – Time to Buy?

Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT) shares shot up 7.2% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $76.75 and last traded at $76.4450. 45,646 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 542,354 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALGT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Allegiant Travel from $110.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Allegiant Travel in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Allegiant Travel from $145.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Allegiant Travel from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised Allegiant Travel from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Sunday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.38.

Allegiant Travel Trading Down 2.8%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.81, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.65.

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.92. Allegiant Travel had a net margin of 0.90% and a return on equity of 10.83%. The firm had revenue of $943.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $982.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Allegiant Travel Company will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Allegiant Travel

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allegiant Travel during the second quarter worth $416,591,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Allegiant Travel in the second quarter valued at about $175,636,000. U S Global Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Allegiant Travel by 10.6% in the third quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 384,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,118,000 after acquiring an additional 36,953 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Allegiant Travel in the second quarter valued at about $33,013,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Allegiant Travel during the second quarter worth about $26,232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.81% of the company’s stock.

About Allegiant Travel

Allegiant Travel Company is a leisure-focused travel company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its principal operating subsidiary, Allegiant Air, is a low-cost airline that provides scheduled and charter passenger service, primarily connecting smaller and mid-sized U.S. cities with popular vacation destinations.

Allegiant Air’s business model emphasizes nonstop routes, low base fares and optional services such as seat selection, baggage, priority boarding and other travel-related amenities.