American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

Several research firms recently commented on AAL. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $21.50 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, valued at $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total transaction of $890,187.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,412 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,865.80. This trade represents a 31.59 % 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Centiva Capital LP increased its stake in American Airlines Group by 199.9% during the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 149,304 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 99,513 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth $9,482,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 31,647.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 426,691 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,510,000 after acquiring an additional 425,347 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 92.8% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 341,525 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,839,000 after purchasing an additional 164,376 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter worth $689,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 3.9 %

AAL stock opened at $11.83 on Tuesday. American Airlines Group has a 52 week low of $9.07 and a 52 week high of $19.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27.

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

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.