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

Shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.20.

A number of brokerages have commented on ALK. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Alaska Air Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

NYSE ALK opened at $42.54 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.33. Alaska Air Group has a 52 week low of $30.75 and a 52 week high of $46.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,993,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 238.8% during the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 869,045 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,954,000 after acquiring an additional 612,575 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,789,000 after acquiring an additional 357,907 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group during the 4th quarter valued at $13,434,000. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,475,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.