Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Given New $58.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price target upped by TD Cowen from $49.00 to $58.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ALK. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Susquehanna lowered Alaska Air Group from a positive rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $44.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Alaska Air Group stock opened at $45.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.68 and a 200-day moving average of $37.22. Alaska Air Group has a 52 week low of $30.75 and a 52 week high of $57.18.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 2.25%. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.62) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $249,340.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALK. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $148,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,311 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the first quarter worth about $62,390,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the first quarter worth about $30,293,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,980,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,951,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 660,917 shares during the period. 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.