Alaska Air Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ALK)

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 21,407 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 958% compared to the typical volume of 2,024 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $148,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,311 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,993,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,439,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $212,543,000 after buying an additional 660,455 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $22,332,000 after acquiring an additional 558,291 shares during the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

ALK stock traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $37.99. 1,189,821 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,195,348. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $30.75 and a twelve month high of $46.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.75.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Alaska Air Group’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 4.08 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.