United Airlines will cut 13 officer positions, even as its international flight activity picks up
United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) is on some traders' radars this morning. The flight concern announced on Friday evening that it plans on eliminating 13 officer positions in an attempt to restructure its business, even as it begins adding international flights back into its network in July, including trips to cities across Europe, as well as Tokyo-Haneda, Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul. UAL is up 4.9% at $29.41 at last check.
Since we last checked in on UAL in mid-May, the stock has been mostly trading sideways, with its May 27 surge closing atop the 60-day moving average before succumbing to the trendline just one day later. The security is attempting to recapture this level of resistance today, still off roughly 66% for the year.
Analyst sentiment hasn't changed since our last check-in. Four still call the equity a "strong buy," while seven say "hold." The consensus 12-month price target of $36.29, meanwhile, is a 28.5% premium to current levels.
Shorts are starting to climb aboard the struggling airline stock. In the last two reporting periods, short interest rose 59.4%. The 35.76 million shares sold short represent a hefty 13.9% of the stock's available float, or one day at its average pace of trading.