Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped — ALGT gapped up premarket from $80.74 to an open of $90.68 and was trading around $89.02, up about 9.9% on elevated volume.
• Analyst sentiment mixed but improving — multiple upgrades and higher targets (Evercore $125, Morgan Stanley $100, BofA $95) contrast with some holds, leaving a MarketBeat consensus rating of Hold and a $97.91 consensus target.
• Insider selling — Chairman Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. sold 175,000 shares at an average $114.23 (300,000 insider shares sold over the last 90 days), though insiders still own 14.7% of the company.

Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $80.74, but opened at $90.68. Allegiant Travel shares last traded at $89.0210, with a volume of 236,357 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALGT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Allegiant Travel from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Bank of America upgraded Allegiant Travel from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore boosted their price target on Allegiant Travel from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Allegiant Travel from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $78.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Allegiant Travel from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.91.

Allegiant Travel Trading Up 9.9%

The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.45, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $92.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.23, for a total value of $19,990,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,962,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $224,159,012.04. The trade was a 8.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 300,000 shares of company stock valued at $34,350,512. Insiders own 14.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allegiant Travel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Allegiant Travel by 442.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 542 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Allegiant Travel by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 546 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Allegiant Travel by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 930 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Allegiant Travel by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Allegiant Travel by 119.2% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.81% of the company's stock.

About Allegiant Travel

Allegiant Travel Company is a holding company that operates Allegiant Air, a low‐cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter air service. The company focuses on connecting underserved secondary markets with popular vacation destinations across the United States. By targeting price‐sensitive leisure travelers, Allegiant Air operates a point‐to‐point network that avoids the traditional hub‐and‐spoke model, providing non‐stop flights from smaller cities to resort and entertainment hubs.

In addition to its core flight operations, Allegiant Travel Company offers packaged travel services that include hotel accommodations, rental cars and attraction tickets through its online portal.

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