Susquehanna Upgrades Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) to “Positive”

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) was upgraded by Susquehanna from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $95.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 43.37% from the stock’s current price.

ALK has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alaska Air Group from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Melius upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.14.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALK stock opened at $66.26 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Alaska Air Group has a 12-month low of $32.62 and a 12-month high of $67.73.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alaska Air Group news, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.89, for a total value of $51,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,296,072.54. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.56, for a total transaction of $317,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,739,128.72. The trade was a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,473 shares of company stock valued at $2,198,342 over the last 90 days. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALK. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Alaska Air Group in the second quarter worth $28,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 86.0% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 952.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,105 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently 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.