Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) Short Interest Update

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,760,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the November 30th total of 9,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALK has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.86.

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In other Alaska Air Group news, COO Muehlen Constance E. Von sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $252,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $767,300.58. This represents a 24.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 13,880 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $888,458.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,321,038.38. This represents a 40.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,473 shares of company stock valued at $2,198,342. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,016,106 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,051,000 after acquiring an additional 8,423 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,063 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $255,000. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alaska Air Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $501,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group during the second quarter valued at about $574,000. Institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

Shares of ALK stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,444,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,330,771. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.52 and a 200-day moving average of $45.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Alaska Air Group has a 52 week low of $32.62 and a 52 week high of $67.73. The company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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.