Short Interest in Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG) Decreases By 14.0%

Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,210,000 shares, a drop of 14.0% from the November 30th total of 2,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ATSG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Air Transport Services Group by 5.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 274,112 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,802,000 after acquiring an additional 14,957 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Air Transport Services Group by 14.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,864,063 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,855,000 after acquiring an additional 239,919 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Air Transport Services Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Transport Services Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Transport Services Group by 3.2% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 503,330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,981,000 after purchasing an additional 15,400 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Air Transport Services Group Price Performance

ATSG stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.96. 297,908 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 714,203. Air Transport Services Group has a 1-year low of $11.62 and a 1-year high of $22.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -548.86 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Transport Services Group (NASDAQ:ATSG) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The transportation company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.04). Air Transport Services Group had a positive return on equity of 3.12% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The firm had revenue of $471.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $507.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Air Transport Services Group will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $22.50 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Air Transport Services Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Air Transport Services Group from $15.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Air Transport Services Group in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.60.

About Air Transport Services Group

Air Transport Services Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides aircraft leasing, and air cargo transportation and related services in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Cargo Aircraft Management Inc (CAM) and ACMI Services. The company offers aircraft, flight crews, aircraft hull and liability insurance, and aviation fuel services; and aircraft maintenance and modification services, including airframe modification and heavy maintenance, component repairs, engineering services, and aircraft line maintenance.