Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Alaska Air Group, Inc. $ALK

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Alaska Air Group by 9.9%, now holding approximately 1,044,800 shares valued at around $51.7 million, making it the firm's 9th largest holding.
• In the second quarter, several large investors, including QRG Capital Management Inc. and First Pacific Financial, significantly increased their stakes in Alaska Air Group, indicating renewed interest in the company.
• Analysts have updated their ratings for Alaska Air Group, with Raymond James setting a $68.00 price target and UBS Group raising its target from $56.00 to $90.00, reflecting positive sentiment about the stock's potential.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK - Free Report) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,044,800 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 115,300 shares during the period. Alaska Air Group accounts for about 1.7% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.85% of Alaska Air Group worth $51,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,816 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 9,388 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 14,494 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 3,182 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 5,268.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 10,736 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 10,536 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 20,770 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Alaska Air Group by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,113 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. 81.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Shane R. Tackett sold 5,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, 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 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, SVP Kyle B. Levine sold 5,914 shares of the business'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 transaction of $341,533.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,207,956.75. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,031,306 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial set a $68.00 price target on shares of Alaska Air Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $58.00 target price on shares of Alaska Air Group and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.62.

Alaska Air Group Stock Up 0.2%

ALK opened at $49.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.99. Alaska Air Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.79 and a twelve month high of $78.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Alaska Air Group 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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