Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Stock Price Up 3.8% - Should You Buy?

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) shot up 3.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $49.37 and last traded at $48.79. 605,905 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 2,677,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lowered Alaska Air Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.92.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 3.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.24 and a 200 day moving average of $58.02.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.19 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 3.37%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.92) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total value of $503,448.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,595,808.40. This represents a 16.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Muehlen Constance E. Von sold 22,157 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.12, for a total value of $1,664,433.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,504,353.12. This represents a 52.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,650 shares of company stock worth $3,901,798 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,651,876 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $883,959,000 after acquiring an additional 56,409 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Alaska Air Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,225,054 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $403,076,000 after buying an additional 56,740 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Alaska Air Group by 328.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,649,388 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $301,048,000 after buying an additional 3,564,749 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,460,959 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $224,121,000 after buying an additional 222,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alaska Air Group by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,134,221 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $138,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222,277 shares during the period. 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.

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