American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Releases Q1 Earnings Guidance

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of ~($0.80)-($0.60) for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of ($0.30). The company issued revenue guidance of ~flat yr/yr to ~$12.57 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.02 billion.

American Airlines Group Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of AAL opened at $10.93 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.42. American Airlines Group has a twelve month low of $9.07 and a twelve month high of $19.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.47. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 28.56%. Analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $12.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Airlines Group to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total value of $890,187.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,865.80. This represents a 31.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.