American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Upgraded to “Buy” at Melius

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Melius from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $23.00 price objective on the airline’s stock. Melius’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 35.53% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AAL. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank raised American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Airlines Group from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.26.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAL opened at $16.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.43, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.53. American Airlines Group has a 1 year low of $9.07 and a 1 year high of $18.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of American Airlines Group 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,079,004.64. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAL. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 56.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Airlines Group during the second quarter worth $36,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in American Airlines Group during the third quarter valued at $55,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,152 shares of the airline’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,932 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares during the period. 52.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.