Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.60.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALK. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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 report on Friday, May 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jade Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,954,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,144,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 1,676.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $58,250,000 after acquiring an additional 140,698 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,554,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $94,712,000 after acquiring an additional 358,749 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,813,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock opened at $41.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.77. Alaska Air Group has a 12 month low of $30.75 and a 12 month high of $57.18.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 2.34%. Alaska Air Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.62) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.