Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $82.00 at UBS Group

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price objective upped by analysts at UBS Group from $81.00 to $82.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 27.27% from the company’s previous close.

ALK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Melius raised Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. 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. Susquehanna raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.14.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

NYSE ALK opened at $64.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.73. Alaska Air Group has a 52-week low of $32.62 and a 52-week high of $67.73.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $234,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,086 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,338,961. This trade represents a 14.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Emily Halverson sold 1,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $85,600.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,150 shares in the company, valued at $460,531.50. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,473 shares of company stock valued at $2,198,342 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the second quarter valued at about $501,000. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Alaska Air Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,454,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $281,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,590,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,239,000 after acquiring an additional 122,325 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,833,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alaska Air Group Company Profile

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.