TD Cowen Boosts Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target to $58.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price objective boosted by TD Cowen from $49.00 to $58.00 in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. 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 issued a buy rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

ALK opened at $45.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Alaska Air Group has a 1 year low of $30.75 and a 1 year high of $57.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.22.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alaska Air Group 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALK. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $148,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,311 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the first quarter valued at $62,390,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the first quarter valued at $30,293,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter valued at $30,980,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,951,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 660,917 shares during the period. 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.