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

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

AAL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas raised American Airlines Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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 report on Monday, December 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.68.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

Shares of AAL opened at $17.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.58. 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 $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.14. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 18.62%. The company had revenue of $13.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict 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 dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

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

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.