United Airlines Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:UAL)

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 73,241 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical daily volume of 46,802 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of United Airlines by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,161,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,634,000 after purchasing an additional 64,542 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in United Airlines by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,471 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in United Airlines by 318.4% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in United Airlines by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,429 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jade Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in United Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $7,145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

United Airlines Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of UAL stock opened at $44.04 on Friday. United Airlines has a 1 year low of $33.68 and a 1 year high of $56.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The transportation company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by $0.17. United Airlines had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 33.90%. The firm had revenue of $14.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Airlines will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of United Airlines from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of United Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of United Airlines from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of United Airlines from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of United Airlines in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $69.20 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.68.

United Airlines Company Profile

United Airlines Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. The company transports people and cargo through its mainline and regional fleets. It also offers catering, ground handling, flight academy, and maintenance services for third parties.