Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Releases Q2 Earnings Guidance

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $2.20-3.20 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12. Alaska Air Group also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 3.250-5.250 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Susquehanna cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a positive rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $57.44.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $44.20 on Thursday. Alaska Air Group has a 52 week low of $30.75 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by ($0.07). Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 2.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.62) EPS. Alaska Air Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $249,340.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALK. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 78.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,980 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 34,204 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 6,520 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 16,847 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $980,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 17,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

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.