Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ALK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Alaska Air Group from $90.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.08.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

ALK stock opened at $42.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. Alaska Air Group has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $78.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.63.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 1.06%.The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kyle B. Levine sold 5,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.75, for a total value of $341,533.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,956.75. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total transaction of $285,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,472,695.10. The trade was a 10.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2,046.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 96,932 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,276,000 after acquiring an additional 92,416 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 172.7% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 15,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,537 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 971,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,839,000 after purchasing an additional 79,099 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board acquired a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.