Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Announces Earnings Results

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The transportation company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.17, RTT News reports. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.62) earnings per share. Alaska Air Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE ALK traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.01. 3,135,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,436,116. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Alaska Air Group has a 52-week low of $30.75 and a 52-week high of $57.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ALK shares. Melius cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Alaska Air Group in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on Alaska Air Group from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $249,340.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,201.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,331,247 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $561,068,000 after acquiring an additional 257,583 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,951,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 660,917 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,105,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $218,323,000 after acquiring an additional 91,940 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,425,916 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,109,000 after acquiring an additional 556,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,761,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $118,566,000 after acquiring an additional 49,354 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

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.