Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Stock

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Barclays from $55.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 50.12% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on ALK. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Melius raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.25.

Alaska Air Group Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock traded up $1.62 on Thursday, reaching $53.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,166,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,266,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.20. Alaska Air Group has a 52-week low of $32.00 and a 52-week high of $53.67.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after purchasing an additional 357,907 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,966,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $170,533,000 after buying an additional 155,403 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.0% in the 2nd 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,593,756 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,054,000 after buying an additional 6,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Alaska Air Group by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,590,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,239,000 after acquiring an additional 122,325 shares during the last quarter. 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.