American Airlines Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 181,154 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 32% compared to the average daily volume of 137,701 call options.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 7.4 %

Shares of AAL stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $11.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 50,957,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,835,277. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.14. American Airlines Group has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $16.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.43.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.05. American Airlines Group had a negative net margin of 0.23% and a negative return on equity of 19.49%. The company had revenue of $14.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Airlines Group will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAL has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $7.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of American Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. BNP Paribas raised shares of American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in American Airlines Group by 51.3% during the 1st quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 58,573 shares of the airline’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 23,375 shares of the airline’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 21,540 shares of the airline’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 14,894 shares of the airline’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. 52.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.