Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $68.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price target raised by TD Cowen from $50.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

ALK has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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. Finally, Melius upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.08.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALK opened at $54.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.60. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.38. Alaska Air Group has a 52 week low of $32.62 and a 52 week high of $56.95.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 69,382 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after buying an additional 3,652 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 211.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 32,442 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $227,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 13.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,403 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.