American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Melius Research

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AAL. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on American Airlines Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas raised American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Airlines Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.68.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAL opened at $17.52 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.58. The company has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. American Airlines Group has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $18.20.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of American Airlines Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $1,763,009.61. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $409,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 787,671 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 451.2% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 797,738 shares of the airline’s stock worth $8,967,000 after purchasing an additional 653,012 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 66,249 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 25,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 162.6% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 140,255 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 86,847 shares during the last quarter. 52.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Airlines Group Company Profile

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.