Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $65.81 and last traded at $65.80, with a volume of 588954 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALK. Melius upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Melius Research raised Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.86.

Alaska Air Group Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.60 and its 200-day moving average is $43.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 2.99%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Emily Halverson sold 1,329 shares of Alaska Air Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $85,600.89. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,531.50. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrea L. Schneider sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.89, for a total value of $51,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,296,072.54. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,473 shares of company stock valued at $2,198,342. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,084,639 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,037,000 after acquiring an additional 265,343 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 54.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 57,577 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 20,347 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Alaska Air Group by 13.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 283,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,457,000 after purchasing an additional 33,717 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 358.9% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 27,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 21,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 156.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 83,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,788,000 after acquiring an additional 51,096 shares during the last quarter. 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.