Alaska Air Group’s (ALK) Buy Rating Reiterated at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group restated their buy rating on shares of Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $70.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

ALK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen cut their target price on 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Melius raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.31.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $52.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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 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 one year low of $32.00 and a one year high of $54.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.40.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 2.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALK. Interval Partners LP increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 100.0% during the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 80,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,439,000 after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter worth $36,993,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 283,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,457,000 after buying an additional 33,717 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,966,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $170,533,000 after purchasing an additional 155,403 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 88.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 174,178 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after buying an additional 81,533 shares in the last quarter. 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.