Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Shares Bought by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 88.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,178 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 81,533 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $7,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth $336,000. Interval Partners LP increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 100.0% in the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 80,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,439,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group in the first quarter valued at $2,640,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 69,382 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,652 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group in the first quarter valued at $36,993,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 571,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,195,661. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.75 and a 1-year high of $47.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.91. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.19. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 11.97%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Susquehanna decreased their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.