Cibc World Markets Corp Takes Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 14,912 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 207.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 728 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 1,873.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 671 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. First Command Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. First Command Bank now owns 700 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 416.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 800 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J Kenneth Thompson sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total transaction of $170,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,882.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALK opened at $44.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.23 and a 200-day moving average of $45.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 96.78, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.19 and a 12 month high of $53.96.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 20th. The transportation company reported ($0.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 0.58%. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.33) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $91.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $57.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $71.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Alaska Air Group from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.86.

About Alaska Air Group

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Alaska Air Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of air transportation services. It operates through the following segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The Mainline segment includes scheduled air transportation on Alaska’s Boeing and Airbus jet aircraft for passengers and cargo throughout the U.S., and in parts of Mexico, Costa Rica and Belize.