Short interest in BAER more than doubled over the past month, reaching 2.82% of free float—the highest level since late March. Utilisation climbed back above 23% as the stock drifts 3.6% lower this week, though still trades 8% above its one-month mark.
Bridger Aerospace closed at $2.13 on April 24, up 1.4% on the day. The stock slipped 3.6% over the past week but remains 8.1% higher than a month ago. Shares trade on Nasdaq in the Diversified Support Services sector.
Short interest reached 1.56 million shares on April 23, representing 2.82% of the free float. That marks a 112% surge from one month earlier. The current reading is the highest since April 13. Short interest climbed 15.8% over the past week alone, adding roughly 214,000 shares.
Cost to borrow stood at 0.25% APR on April 23. CTB has been volatile, spiking to 0.85% in early April before falling back. The current rate sits 47% above the week-ago level but remains 51% below the month-ago reading of 0.52%.
Utilisation reached 23.51% on April 23, up from 19.92% a week earlier. The current level is well below the 52-week high of 55.48%. Utilisation climbed steadily through the first half of April, peaking at 26.14% on April 8, before easing into the mid-teens in late March. The recent move back above 23% puts utilisation at its highest in two weeks.
FINRA reported 1.00 million shares short as of the April 15 settlement date, with days to cover at 2.35.
Coverage stands at buy consensus. Two analysts maintain buy ratings. Canaccord Genuity's Austin Moeller holds a $5.00 target, trimmed from $5.25 on March 9 while keeping his buy rating. The mean price target of $4.18 implies upside from the $2.13 close, though consensus data is 25 days old.
Canaccord maintained its buy rating three times over the past year, raised the target twice, and lowered it three times. The most recent cut followed maintained ratings in November 2025. Coverage initiated in June 2024 at $5.50.
Vanguard added 502,384 shares in Q1 2026, lifting its stake to 1.31 million shares, or 2.35% of the company. That marks its largest position build in recent quarters. Enclave Advisors initiated a 304,506-share position in Q1, a 0.54% stake. First Manhattan added 250,000 shares, bringing its total to 5.76 million—the second-largest holder at 10.3%.
Marshall Wace added 811,899 shares in Q4 2025, reaching 965,091 shares. Jeffrey Kelter, who holds 2.96% of the company, added 100,000 shares as of March 9. Blackstone remains the largest holder with 9.62 million shares, unchanged since year-end 2025.
BlackRock's position edged 7,397 shares higher to 231,563. Geode Capital added 7,998 shares to 284,601.
Executive Chairman Jeffrey Kelter bought 100,000 shares on December 3, 2025, at $1.80 per share—a $180,070 purchase. The same trade appears three times in the filing, reflecting a combined 300,000-share buy worth $540,210 over the 90-day window. The net 90-day insider activity is positive by that amount.
Earlier in 2025, three executives sold modest amounts. CFO Eric Gerratt sold 17,672 shares at $1.53 on March 20. Chief Legal Officer James Muchmore sold 27,909 shares at the same price. Acting CEO Samuel Davis sold 21,359 shares at $1.53 the same day.
In September 2024, the same three executives sold smaller lots near $2.70.
Analyst recommendation differential scored the 98th percentile as of April 24, reflecting strong buy-side consensus. Short score ranked at the 26th percentile, below average for the coverage universe. Dividend score came in at the 28th percentile. Days to cover and utilisation both ranked near the 30th percentile.
Sector score landed at the 21st percentile. Quality, value, and momentum machine-learning ranks were unavailable, as were EPS momentum and earnings yield.
ORTEX short score reached 44.63 on April 23, up from 41.53 a week earlier. The combined score stood at 44.54. Scores have climbed steadily from the 40.46 reading on April 16.
Bridger reports earnings on May 6 at 8:00 PM UTC. Four prior earnings dates are logged in the system, the most recent on March 12. Price-reaction history for those events was not available in the snapshot.
The stock carries no active ORTEX Alpha signals. Recent analyst updates and continued institutional accumulation by Vanguard and others suggest positioning ahead of the May print.
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