Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $42.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Susquehanna from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 5.50% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Melius lowered shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALK opened at $44.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.17. Alaska Air Group has a 1 year low of $30.75 and a 1 year high of $57.18.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.17. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.62) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $249,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,654,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 153,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 97.3% during the 1st quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Executive Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Executive Wealth Group LLC now owns 41,913 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 27,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Company Profile

Alaska Air Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates airlines. It operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The company offers scheduled air transportation services on Boeing jet aircraft for passengers and cargo in the United States, and in parts of Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, and the Bahamas; and for passengers across a shorter distance network within the United States, Canada, and Mexico.