American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $18.56 and last traded at $18.07, with a volume of 20375079 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AAL shares. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Melius upgraded American Airlines Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised American Airlines Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded American Airlines Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.42.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 1.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $16.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.94.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.50 billion. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 0.51%. The business's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In other American Airlines Group news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, valued at $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Airlines Group by 22.5% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,381 shares of the airline's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,178 shares of the airline's stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in American Airlines Group by 1,432.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 597,368 shares of the airline's stock valued at $6,768,000 after buying an additional 558,384 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in American Airlines Group by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,324 shares of the airline's stock worth $6,643,000 after acquiring an additional 13,789 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in American Airlines Group by 75.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,240,659 shares of the airline's stock worth $48,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company's stock.

American Airlines Group Company Profile

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.