Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Given New $48.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $51.00 to $48.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 33.41% from the stock’s current price.

ALK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of Alaska Air Group stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.98. 507,264 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,202,403. Alaska Air Group has a 52-week low of $30.75 and a 52-week high of $46.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.19. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 2.14%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALK. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Alaska Air Group during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alaska Air Group during the 1st quarter worth about $65,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,688 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $69,000. 81.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.