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

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

ALK has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius cut Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Alaska Air Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $44.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.17. The company has a market cap 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. Alaska Air Group has a 12 month low of $30.75 and a 12 month high of $57.18.

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

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

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

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.