Alaska Airlines Adds New Routes From Seattle; Imperial Capital Weighs In

has been working diligently to add new domestic routes across the United States, and some cities in Mexico. Most notably, Alaska Airlines has been competing with

over flights to and from Seattle and New York (JFK). Alaska Airlines' headquarters is located in Seattle and is the company's biggest hub. In turn, New York JFK is one of Delta Airlines' biggest hubs. John Kirby, Alaska Air's VP of capacity planning, said in a statement, "Our new service to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport provides our valued customers greater access to the nation's largest market… Alaska offers three times more daily flights than any other airline from our hometown of Seattle and serves the top 25 destinations for business travelers." On March 16th, Imperial Capital analyst Bob McAdoo maintained an Outperform rating on Alaska Airlines with a price target of $86. He noted, "Our conversations with investors continue to suggest concerns regarding the increases in competitive capacity from Delta Air Lines in Seattle, despite record 2014 operating results for ALK. In contrast to this investor chatter, we believe softer 1Q15 PRASM trends appear to be driven by Alaska's own capacity growth rather than any competitive pressures. ALK is increasing 1Q15 capacity by 11.0%, the second highest growth of any airline we currently cover." In addition, McAdoo "expect[s] revenue trends to improve or ALK management will likely reallocate these aircraft to other routes. Given the strength of ALK's balance sheet, [he] expect[s] the company to pass along a meaningful portion of fuel-driven cash savings to ALK investors through additional share repurchases." Bob McAdoo has rated Alaska Airlines 12 times since October 2013, earning a 91 percent success rate recommending the airline company and a +35.1% average return per ALK recommendation. McAdoo is known for covering stocks in the airline industry, such as American Airlines

and Hawaiian Holdings

, helping him earn a 79 percent overall success rate recommending stocks and a +34.2 percent average return per recommendation. The analyst has rated American Airlines 8 times since April 2014, earning a 75 percent success rate recommending the company and a +15.7% average return per AAL recommendation. Likewise, McAdoo has rating Hawaiian Holdings 6 times since April 2013, earning a 100% success rate recommending the stock and an impressive +127.7 percent average return per HA recommendation.