Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Credit Suisse in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Analyst Ratings.Net reports.

Other institutional investors recently made changes to their positions in the company. Detwiler Fenton Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth $260,000. Reynolds Capital Management increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Reynolds Capital Management now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management now owns 6,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Saddle Road Partners acquired a new position in Alaska Air Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $576,000. Finally, Fulton Bank increased its position in Alaska Air Group by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank now owns 8,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank raised Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $86.00 in a report on Friday. Cowen and Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 23rd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $87.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 22nd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.62.

In related news, COO Benito Minicucci sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total value of $168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 44,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,755,136. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bradley D. Tilden sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $385,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,770,604. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Shares of Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) opened at 72.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.12 billion and a PE ratio of 11.11. Alaska Air Group has a 12 month low of $58.15 and a 12 month high of $87.17.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 21st. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.06. The business earned $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alaska Air Group will post $7.62 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Alaska Air Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 19th.

Alaska Air Group, Inc. is a holding company of Alaska Airlines Inc. (NYSE:ALK) and Horizon Air Industries Inc. (Horizon). The Company operates Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air airlines, which together with its partner regional airlines serve approximately 100 cities through a network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. The Company operates in three segments: Alaska Mainline, Alaska Regional and Horizon. Alaska Mainline is the Boeing 737 part of Alaska’s business. Alaska Regional is Alaska’s shorter distance network. Horizon operates regional aircraft. In 2014, the Company carried approximately 29 million passengers. Alaska operates a fleet of passenger jets (mainline) and contracts with Horizon SkyWest Airlines Inc. (SkyWest) and Peninsula Airways, Inc. (PenAir) for regional capacity under which Alaska receives all passenger revenue from those flights. Horizon operates a fleet of turboprop aircraft and sells all of its capacity to Alaska.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:ALK

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