Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.86.

ALK has been the topic of several research reports. 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 research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. 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 research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Transactions at Alaska Air Group

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 91,745 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.14, for a total transaction of $6,526,739.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,468,187.32. The trade was a 81.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 3,700 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $234,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,338,961. This trade represents a 14.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,548 shares of company stock worth $9,513,807. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 32.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,084,639 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,037,000 after purchasing an additional 265,343 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 54.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 57,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 20,347 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth about $772,000. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 358.9% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 27,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 21,451 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 156.3% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 83,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,788,000 after acquiring an additional 51,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:ALK opened at $73.12 on Monday. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $32.62 and a twelve month high of $74.70. The company has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.52. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 3.37%. Analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

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.