Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Given New $42.00 Price Target at Susquehanna

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price boosted by Susquehanna from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ALK. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a buy rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE ALK opened at $45.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.22. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.63. 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, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.62) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at $999,201.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,461,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $536,225,000 after acquiring an additional 47,871 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,951,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 660,917 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,439,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $212,543,000 after acquiring an additional 660,455 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 2.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,105,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $218,323,000 after acquiring an additional 91,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $148,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

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.