Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ALK. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research raised Alaska Air Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alaska Air Group from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective (up from $58.00) on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Evercore set a $60.00 target price on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.12.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALK opened at $46.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.97. Alaska Air Group has a 1-year low of $33.03 and a 1-year high of $65.88. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 87.14 and a beta of 1.28.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The transportation company reported ($1.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.61) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 0.51% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.77) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alaska Air Group will post -0.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Alaska Air Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,407,000. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the second quarter worth about $271,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 15.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 963.3% during the second quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alaska Air Group by 32.5% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, that operates two main airlines—Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Through these carriers, the company offers scheduled passenger and cargo services across a network spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its core business activities include domestic and international air transportation, loyalty program management under the Mileage Plan brand, and ancillary revenue streams such as baggage fees, in-flight sales and code-share partnerships with other global airlines.

The roots of Alaska Air Group trace back to the foundation of its flagship carrier, Alaska Airlines, in 1932.