Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Short Interest Update

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,610,000 shares, a growth of 47.9% from the May 31st total of 5,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners lifted its holdings 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 worth $148,861,000 after buying an additional 1,495,311 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter valued at $36,993,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,439,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $212,543,000 after purchasing an additional 660,455 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4,198.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 571,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 558,291 shares during the period. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

ALK stock traded down $0.34 on Monday, hitting $40.06. 52,474 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,165,112. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.60. Alaska Air Group has a 1-year low of $30.75 and a 1-year high of $57.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.41 and a 200-day moving average of $39.94.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.62) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research raised Alaska Air Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given 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 a consensus target price of $56.60.

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.