Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Lowered to "Strong Sell" Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded Alaska Air Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, reflecting negative sentiment around the company's stock performance.
• Despite the downgrade, some analysts maintain a positive outlook; a report from Susquehanna set a target price of $58.00 while UBS raised their rating to "buy" with a target increase from $56.00 to $90.00.
• Alaska Air Group reported a 27.9% year-over-year increase in revenue for the last quarter, reaching $3.70 billion, and beat analysts' earnings expectations with an EPS of $1.78.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Susquehanna set a $58.00 price target on shares of Alaska Air Group and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $73.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.62.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock opened at $49.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $56.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.87. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $39.79 and a twelve month high of $78.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. Alaska Air Group has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.400 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 3.250- EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, SVP Kyle B. Levine sold 5,914 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.75, for a total value of $341,533.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,207,956.75. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total transaction of $285,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,472,695.10. The trade was a 10.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,031,306. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALK. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 249.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,638,464 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $129,865,000 after buying an additional 1,882,598 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 13,557.0% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 625,764 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $30,963,000 after buying an additional 621,182 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 2,880.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 624,035 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $30,877,000 after buying an additional 603,097 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 78.4% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,009,317 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $49,941,000 after purchasing an additional 443,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the second quarter worth $21,485,000. 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.

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