Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $56.00 at Bank of America

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price target hoisted by Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ALK. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Susquehanna cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a positive rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $41.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Melius cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 1.3 %

ALK stock opened at $45.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $30.75 and a twelve month high of $57.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.63.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.62) EPS. Research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 1,676.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $58,250,000 after purchasing an additional 140,698 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,554,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $94,712,000 after purchasing an additional 358,749 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,813,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,213,630 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,001,000 after purchasing an additional 71,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Alaska Air Group by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 366,619 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,594,000 after purchasing an additional 142,310 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.