UPDATE: Deutsche Bank Downgrades Alaska Air Group to Sell, Reiterates $70 PT on Growing Competition

In a report published Monday, Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Linenberg downgraded the rating on

from Hold to Sell, but reiterated the $70.00 price target. In the report, Deutsche Bank noted, “We are lowering our rating on Alaska Air Group to Sell from Hold following recent announcements by Delta to add even more service from Alaska's key Seattle hub and by Alaska to now start flying from Salt Lake City, a key Delta hub, to four West Coast cities. We view these measures as retaliatory on the part of Alaska in response to Delta's significant growth in its Seattle backyard. Furthermore, the recent moves by both “partners” suggest that their long-standing code share and marketing agreements could be unraveling. While these actions are negative for both airlines, the fact that Delta is roughly 8x the size of Alaska (i.e. $38 billion of revenue estimated for 2013 vs. Alaska's $5 billion) leads us to believe that Alaska will be disproportionately impacted.” Alaska Air Group closed on Friday at $73.51.