United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Raymond James downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. The stock had previously closed at $69.05, but opened at $67.45. United Airlines shares last traded at $65.66, with a volume of 1,850,742 shares traded.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on United Airlines from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of United Airlines from $125.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of United Airlines from $140.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of United Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays set a $140.00 price objective on United Airlines and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UAL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in United Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of United Airlines by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,320,253 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $588,874,000 after buying an additional 78,470 shares during the last quarter. Longbow Finance SA purchased a new position in shares of United Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $9,359,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Airlines by 28.0% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,064,000 after acquiring an additional 11,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV purchased a new position in United Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $485,000. Institutional investors own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

United Airlines Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.87.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The transportation company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $0.30. United Airlines had a return on equity of 32.26% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm had revenue of $14.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Airlines Holdings, Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About United Airlines

United Airlines Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. The company transports people and cargo through its mainline and regional fleets. It also offers catering, ground handling, flight academy, and maintenance services for third parties.