Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts give Alaska Air Group an average rating of Moderate Buy (12 buys, 1 hold, 1 sell) with a one-year average target of about $63.31, well above the current share price near $39.80.
• Alaska Air reported an EPS miss of ($1.68) vs. ($1.61) expected and guided Q2 to around -1.00 EPS, while insiders sold 56,945 shares (≈$3.2M) in the last quarter.

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.3077.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ALK shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $63.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $63.00 target price on Alaska Air Group in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, EVP Kyle B. Levine sold 2,945 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $176,758.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,977 shares in the company, valued at $1,259,039.54. The trade was a 12.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 24,000 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.15, for a total value of $1,371,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 43,377 shares in the company, valued at $2,478,995.55. This trade represents a 35.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 56,945 shares of company stock worth $3,204,569 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth $607,000. Lesa Sroufe & Co grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 131.7% in the first quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 84,233 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 47,884 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth $214,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth $1,440,000. Finally, Deltec Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 798.7% in the first quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 269,600 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $9,916,000 after purchasing an additional 239,600 shares during the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock opened at $39.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.09 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Alaska Air Group has a 12 month low of $33.03 and a 12 month high of $65.88. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.23.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The transportation company reported ($1.68) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.61) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 0.51% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.77) EPS. Alaska Air Group has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -1.000--1.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, that operates two main airlines—Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Through these carriers, the company offers scheduled passenger and cargo services across a network spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its core business activities include domestic and international air transportation, loyalty program management under the Mileage Plan brand, and ancillary revenue streams such as baggage fees, in-flight sales and code-share partnerships with other global airlines.

The roots of Alaska Air Group trace back to the foundation of its flagship carrier, Alaska Airlines, in 1932.

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