Alaska Air Profit Jumps On Higher US Travel

The parent company of Alaska Airlines reported its highest quarterly profit in its history Thursday … despite stiff competition in the Northwest skies. That compares with $165 million, or $1.19 a share, a year ago.

Analysts are projecting that Alaska Air Group, Inc. will report earnings per share of $1.72 when they are scheduled to next report results on or around 2015-07-23.

According to the fifteen top financial analysts that are covering this firm’s financial statements, there is an expectation of earnings for each share of $6.16 for the 2015 year, which gives Alaska Air Group Inc a PE ratio of 12.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Major Brokerage house, Morgan Stanley assumes its ratings on Alaska Air Group, Inc. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total transaction of $371,100.00. The stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $76.73. Also, CFO Brandon Pedersen sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th.

Our price estimate for Alaska Air stands at $69 per share, 8% behind its current market price.

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) are anticipating that the stock will see a price of $78.636 in the next year. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total transaction of $140,849.80. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. This represents the consensus average based on the 11 analysts that are providing targets.

Despite the turbulent environment faced by the US airline industry, we expect Alaska Air to deliver impressive results yet again, driven by its rapid capacity expansions and lower fuel cost.

Zacks Rank: Alaska Air Group has a Zacks Rank #2 which increases the predictive power of ESP. However, we need to have a positive ESP to be confident of an earnings surprise. The Company operates in three segments: Alaska Mainline, which is the Boeing 737 part of Alaska’s business; Alaska Regional, which is Alaska’s shorter distance network, and Horizon, which operates regional aircraft. Members can earn and redeem miles on Alaska, Horizon, and a network of 15 airline partners around the globe, including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines in the United States. Horizon operates regional aircraft. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it provided air service to approximately 24 million passengers and flew to approximately 100 destinations. Alaska operates a fleet of passenger jets (mainline) and contracts with Horizon, SkyWest Airlines, Inc. (PenAir) for regional capacity under which Alaska receives all passenger revenue from those flights.