Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Earns “Positive” Rating from Susquehanna

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK)‘s stock had its “positive” rating reissued by analysts at Susquehanna in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $50.00. Susquehanna’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.55% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ALK. TD Cowen increased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.83.

Alaska Air Group Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:ALK traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.38. 1,876,418 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,611,787. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Alaska Air Group has a one year low of $34.43 and a one year high of $78.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.85.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.22. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 7,600 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $404,472.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,007,454.60. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Emily Halverson sold 2,946 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.34, for a total transaction of $151,247.64. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $423,709.02. This represents a 26.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,046 shares of company stock valued at $957,045 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $594,000. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 106,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,239 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,190 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 46,427 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 3.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,215,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $109,657,000 after purchasing an additional 77,531 shares during the last quarter. 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.