Barclays Increases Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target to $80.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Barclays from $55.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 48.26% from the company’s previous close.

ALK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Melius Research raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.31.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 2.0 %

ALK opened at $53.96 on Thursday. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $32.00 and a twelve month high of $54.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.35. The stock has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALK. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Alaska Air Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 23.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 60,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after acquiring an additional 11,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 22.6% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.