Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $44.00 to $51.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Susquehanna downgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $41.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.44.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

ALK stock opened at $41.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Alaska Air Group has a 1 year low of $30.75 and a 1 year high of $57.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.78 and a 200 day moving average of $36.95. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.63.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The transportation company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.12. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Alaska Air Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $249,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 215.8% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 775 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 416.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 456.1% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 912 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.