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

Shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ALK shares. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research raised Alaska Air Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after buying an additional 357,907 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 155,403 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake 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 worth $119,960,000 after purchasing an additional 220,030 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $64,239,000 after purchasing an additional 122,325 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 8.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,063,379 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,715,000 after purchasing an additional 83,868 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock opened at $37.82 on Friday. Alaska Air Group has a 1 year low of $30.75 and a 1 year high of $46.15. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.74.

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