Alaska Air Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ALK)

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 15,712 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 220% compared to the average volume of 4,913 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ALK shares. Susquehanna increased their price target on Alaska Air Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Melius raised shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alaska Air Group from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.38.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,504,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,789,000 after purchasing an additional 357,907 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Alaska Air Group by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,969,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $119,960,000 after buying an additional 220,030 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,061,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $93,229,000 after buying an additional 78,186 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,593,756 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $72,054,000 after acquiring an additional 6,977 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 8.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,590,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,239,000 after acquiring an additional 122,325 shares during the last quarter. 81.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Alaska Air Group stock traded up $1.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.84. 747,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,254,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Alaska Air Group has a 12-month low of $32.62 and a 12-month high of $63.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.57. The company has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 12.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.