Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Given “Buy” Rating at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Melius Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.31.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $52.86 on Friday. Alaska Air Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $54.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.40.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALK. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,061,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $93,229,000 after purchasing an additional 78,186 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,058,564 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $47,857,000 after buying an additional 18,233 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the third quarter valued at $45,000. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 16,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 4,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,390,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.