Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $45.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price objective raised by Susquehanna from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

ALK has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $53.60.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALK opened at $44.65 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.42. Alaska Air Group has a 52 week low of $30.75 and a 52 week high of $46.15.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its 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 11.85% and a net margin of 2.14%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after purchasing an additional 357,907 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,966,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $170,533,000 after buying an additional 155,403 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 8.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,969,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $119,960,000 after buying an additional 220,030 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 8.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,590,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,239,000 after buying an additional 122,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 8.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,063,379 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,715,000 after acquiring an additional 83,868 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.