Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.91.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALK. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $62.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $53.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 25th.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALK stock opened at $34.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The transportation company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.04). Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALK. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 57.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 8,926 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,258 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 63.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 366,619 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,594,000 after purchasing an additional 142,310 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 14.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 25,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 26,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 554.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 86,730 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 73,471 shares during the last quarter. 80.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operated airlines. The company operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The company offers scheduled air transportation services on Boeing and Airbus jet aircraft for passengers and cargo throughout the United States, and in parts of Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belize; and for passengers across a shorter distance network within the United States and Canada.