Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Shares Up 10.1% – Still a Buy?

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was up 10.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $39.43 and last traded at $39.8580. Approximately 1,634,972 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 4,160,029 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ALK shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $63.00 target price on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.85.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 10.5%

The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.31 and its 200-day moving average is $45.50. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.63 and a beta of 1.25.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The transportation company reported ($1.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.61) by ($0.07). Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 0.51%.The business had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.77) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Alaska Air Group has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -1.000–1.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,059,404 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $556,288,000 after buying an additional 110,628 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,348,163 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $233,463,000 after buying an additional 145,484 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 86.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,175,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $159,720,000 after buying an additional 1,475,350 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,962,620 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after buying an additional 588,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $108,166,000 after buying an additional 35,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Company Profile

Alaska Air Group is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, that operates two main airlines—Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Through these carriers, the company offers scheduled passenger and cargo services across a network spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its core business activities include domestic and international air transportation, loyalty program management under the Mileage Plan brand, and ancillary revenue streams such as baggage fees, in-flight sales and code-share partnerships with other global airlines.

The roots of Alaska Air Group trace back to the foundation of its flagship carrier, Alaska Airlines, in 1932.