Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,500,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the August 31st total of 9,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $189,000. American Trust grew its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 6,562 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,969,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $119,960,000 after buying an additional 220,030 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,529 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,887 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Alaska Air Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ALK opened at $45.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Alaska Air Group has a one year low of $30.75 and a one year high of $46.15. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.59.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.19. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 2.14%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.