American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

AAL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Melius Research raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.42.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

American Airlines Group stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $17.60. The company had a trading volume of 28,383,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,940,443. American Airlines Group has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $18.45. The company has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.82.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.50 billion. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 0.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts expect that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Airlines Group

In other news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $1,763,009.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial lifted its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 1,039.9% during the fourth quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 48,355 shares of the airline’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 44,113 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth about $181,000. Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter worth about $351,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Airlines Group by 107.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,519,904 shares of the airline’s stock worth $17,084,000 after purchasing an additional 787,671 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

About American Airlines Group

American Airlines Group Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a network air carrier. The company provides scheduled air transportation services for passengers and cargo through its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, DC, as well as through partner gateways in London, Doha, Madrid, Seattle/Tacoma, Sydney, and Tokyo.