Short Interest in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Grows By 8.2%

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,280,000 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the June 30th total of 8,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $148,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,311 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in Alaska Air Group during the first quarter valued at about $36,993,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,439,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $212,543,000 after acquiring an additional 660,455 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 238.8% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 869,045 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,954,000 after purchasing an additional 612,575 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4,198.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 571,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 558,291 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.60.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ALK opened at $37.45 on Thursday. Alaska Air Group has a fifty-two week low of $30.75 and a fifty-two week high of $48.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.19. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

About Alaska Air Group

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.