American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Upgraded at Melius Research

Melius Research upgraded shares of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

AAL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Melius upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.68.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

Shares of American Airlines Group stock opened at $17.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $15.54 and a 200 day moving average of $12.58. American Airlines Group has a fifty-two week low of $9.07 and a fifty-two week high of $18.20.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.50 billion. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 18.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $1,763,009.61. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in American Airlines Group by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the airline’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 14,894 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in American Airlines Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,178 shares of the airline’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Coastwise Capital Group LLC raised its position in American Airlines Group by 5.3% during the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 37,840 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 20.2% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,663 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,128 shares during the period. 52.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.