Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Cut to $70.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ALK. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $54.60.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

NYSE ALK opened at $38.67 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.86. Alaska Air Group has a 52-week low of $30.75 and a 52-week high of $48.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.19. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 2.14%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,868 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,688 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 153,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,595,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,209 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.