Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $89.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $85.00 to $89.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 23.19% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ALK. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Alaska Air Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Susquehanna raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.00.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $72.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.88. Alaska Air Group has a 1-year low of $32.62 and a 1-year high of $78.08.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.52. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total value of $503,448.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,030 shares in the company, valued at $2,595,808.40. This represents a 16.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Muehlen Constance E. Von sold 22,157 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.12, for a total value of $1,664,433.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,504,353.12. The trade was a 52.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,198 shares of company stock valued at $13,415,604. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALK. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Alaska Air Group by 165.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,444 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 12,126 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 15.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. 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.