American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $20.00 target price on the airline’s stock, up from their prior target price of $12.00.

AAL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas raised American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of American Airlines Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.10.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

American Airlines Group stock opened at $17.60 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.63. American Airlines Group has a 1 year low of $9.07 and a 1 year high of $18.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its 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 business had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American Airlines Group

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Airlines Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAL. Austin Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $723,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 95.3% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 193,854 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 94,573 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,199,121 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $13,586,000 after purchasing an additional 153,515 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 508,119 shares during the period. Finally, Centiva Capital LP boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 199.9% during the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 149,304 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 99,513 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

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.