Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.31.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALK. Melius Research raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen dropped their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after buying an additional 357,907 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,966,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $170,533,000 after purchasing an additional 155,403 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,969,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $119,960,000 after purchasing an additional 220,030 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,061,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $93,229,000 after purchasing an additional 78,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,593,756 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ALK stock opened at $53.08 on Wednesday. Alaska Air Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $54.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.47.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The company 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 earned $1.83 EPS. Alaska Air Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 earnings per share 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.