American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 97,030,000 shares, a decline of 20.2% from the August 15th total of 121,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 32,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,177,845 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,169,330,000 after acquiring an additional 806,770 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,881,356 shares of the airline’s stock worth $644,466,000 after acquiring an additional 14,549,310 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 75.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,240,659 shares of the airline’s stock worth $48,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,928 shares during the period. Par Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,510,600 shares of the airline’s stock worth $34,496,000 after acquiring an additional 10,600 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Airlines Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,819,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of American Airlines Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Airlines Group from $21.00 to $15.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $17.00 to $12.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, TD Cowen cut American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $16.00 to $10.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.73.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAL opened at $10.69 on Monday. American Airlines Group has a 1 year low of $9.07 and a 1 year high of $16.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.34.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $14.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.38 billion. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 19.49% and a negative net margin of 0.23%. American Airlines Group’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. Analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.