Investors Purchase Large Volume of American Airlines Group Put Options (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 160,815 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 39% compared to the average volume of 115,623 put options.

American Airlines Group Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAL opened at $17.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.41. American Airlines Group has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $18.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.85.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.14. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 18.62%. The company had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of American Airlines Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 34.4% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,881,356 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $644,466,000 after buying an additional 14,549,310 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 75.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,240,659 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $48,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,928 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,490,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in American Airlines Group by 379.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,667,539 shares of the airline’s stock worth $18,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in American Airlines Group by 10,997.9% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,167,056 shares of the airline’s stock worth $13,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,540 shares during the period. 52.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group cut shares of American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on American Airlines Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.52.

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.