Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Short Interest Update

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,610,000 shares, an increase of 47.9% from the May 31st total of 5,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Alaska Air Group in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.60.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ALK traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $40.06. The stock had a trading volume of 52,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,165,112. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.65. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $30.75 and a twelve month high of $57.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.17. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.62) earnings per share. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $148,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,311 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,993,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 660,455 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 238.8% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 869,045 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,954,000 after purchasing an additional 612,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 4,198.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 571,589 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 558,291 shares during the period. 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.