Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Receives “Buy” Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $70.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ALK. Melius Research upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Melius upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Alaska Air Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.31.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 2.0 %

ALK stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,201,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,273,383. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.18 and a 200 day moving average of $41.35. Alaska Air Group has a 1-year low of $32.00 and a 1-year high of $54.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 2.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Interval Partners LP increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 80,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter valued at $36,993,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 283,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,457,000 after purchasing an additional 33,717 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,966,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $170,533,000 after purchasing an additional 155,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 88.0% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 174,178 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after purchasing an additional 81,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.