American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock to $18.00. Evercore ISI currently has a hold rating on the stock. American Airlines Group traded as high as $18.36 and last traded at $18.36, with a volume of 3156003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.60.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AAL. TD Cowen raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $17.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAL. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 34.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,881,356 shares of the airline’s stock worth $644,466,000 after purchasing an additional 14,549,310 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 valued at $48,047,000 after buying an additional 1,823,928 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in American Airlines Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,490,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 379.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 10,997.9% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,167,056 shares of the airline’s stock worth $13,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 4.4 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.76. The company has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 55.70, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.