Raymond James Upgrades American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) to Outperform

Raymond James upgraded shares of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $24.00 target price on the airline’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAL. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Scotiabank raised American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted 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, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.44.

American Airlines Group Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:AAL opened at $17.62 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.12 and a 200-day moving average of $12.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a PE ratio of 53.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.41. American Airlines Group has a 52 week low of $9.07 and a 52 week high of $18.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,079,004.64. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Airlines Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 57,339,666 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $644,498,000 after purchasing an additional 458,310 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its position in American Airlines Group by 5.9% during the third quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 9,088,188 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $102,151,000 after buying an additional 508,119 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in American Airlines Group by 75.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,240,659 shares of the airline’s stock worth $48,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,928 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in American Airlines Group by 379.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,667,539 shares of the airline’s stock worth $18,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319,859 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in American Airlines Group by 107.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,519,904 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $17,084,000 after acquiring an additional 787,671 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

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.