Alaska Air Replaces SanDisk in S&P 500 Index
After markets close on Thursday, Alaska Air Group will replace flash-memory maker SanDisk on the S&P 500 index.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Now that the acquisition of SanDisk by Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) has received all necessary approvals, the deal is expected to close Thursday, May 12. After markets close that day, Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) will replace the flash-memory maker on the S&P 500 index.
Alaska Airlines was the top-rated legacy carrier in the 2016 J.D. Power North America Airline Customer Satisfaction Study released Wednesday morning, a position it has held for nine consecutive years.
The company recently reached an agreement to acquire Virgin America Inc. (NASDAQ: VA) for $2 billion in cash and about the same amount in Virgin America debt. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2016.
Alaska Air’s five-year share price growth reached a peak of nearly 400% last November. Shares traded up about 300% over the five-year period Wednesday morning, compared with a gain of about 56% in the S&P 500 Index over the same period. SanDisk’s growth over the five-year period was about 64%, while Western Digital’s share price had risen by more than 200% as of late 2014, but traded Wednesday up just 2.5% over the five-year period.
[nativounit]
Alaska Airlines stock traded down about 1% Wednesday morning, at $68.60 in a 52-week range of $58.15 to $87.17. The consensus price target on the stock is $88.41.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
