Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Key Points

• Allegiant Travel shares dropped sharply at the open, falling from a prior close of $72.34 to $67.02 before trading around $68.13.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $123.38, despite Zacks downgrading the stock to “hold.”
• The company beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $2.19 versus the $1.27 consensus, while revenue increased 36.8% year over year; institutional investors own 85.81% of the stock.

Shares of Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $72.34, but opened at $67.02. Allegiant Travel shares last traded at $68.1250, with a volume of 19,378 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ALGT. Zacks Research lowered shares of Allegiant Travel from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Allegiant Travel from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Allegiant Travel in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Allegiant Travel from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Allegiant Travel from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allegiant Travel currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.38.

Allegiant Travel Stock Up 3.3%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.48. 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 $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.55.

Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The transportation company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $982.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 36.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Allegiant Travel has set its Q3 2026 guidance at -1.000--0.000 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Allegiant Travel Company will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allegiant Travel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALGT. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Allegiant Travel during the 1st quarter worth $486,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Allegiant Travel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,232,000. VELA Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Allegiant Travel during the second quarter worth $4,461,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Allegiant Travel in the second quarter worth $416,591,000. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Allegiant Travel in the third quarter valued at $2,745,000. 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, and the parent company of Allegiant Air. Founded in 1997, Allegiant Air operates a low-cost, scheduled airline model designed to connect travelers in smaller and midsize U.S. cities with popular vacation destinations.

Allegiant Air provides passenger air transportation primarily within the United States, serving destinations such as Florida, Arizona, Nevada, California and other leisure markets.

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