Cadence Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Cadence Bank lowered its holdings in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 21.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,049 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $148,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,311 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,439,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $212,543,000 after acquiring an additional 660,455 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 238.8% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 869,045 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,954,000 after acquiring an additional 612,575 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 4,198.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 571,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,332,000 after acquiring an additional 558,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 319.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 674,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,335,000 after acquiring an additional 513,373 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALK traded up $0.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,639,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,210,377. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.65. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.75 and a fifty-two week high of $48.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.88. The company has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALK. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.60.

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.