Yousif Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) by 200.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 63,522 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,409 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alaska Air Group were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALK. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 4,906 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 22,236 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 7,094 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 19,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 2.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,337 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Melius downgraded Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of ALK opened at $44.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.63. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.75 and a fifty-two week high of $57.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.66.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.62) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alaska Air Group 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.