American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Melius

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) was upgraded by research analysts at Melius from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $23.00 target price on the airline’s stock. Melius’ target price suggests a potential upside of 35.53% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 30th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their target price on American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.26.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAL opened at $16.97 on Monday. American Airlines Group has a 1 year low of $9.07 and a 1 year high of $18.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.46 and a 200 day moving average of $12.53. The stock has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $1,763,009.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Austin Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Airlines Group during the third quarter valued at $723,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 95.3% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 193,854 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 94,573 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 14.7% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,199,121 shares of the airline’s stock worth $13,586,000 after purchasing an additional 153,515 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 9,088,188 shares of the airline’s stock worth $102,151,000 after buying an additional 508,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP boosted its stake in American Airlines Group by 199.9% during the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 149,304 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 99,513 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.