Melius Upgrades American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) to Buy

Melius upgraded shares of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Melius currently has $23.00 price target on the airline's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AAL. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of American Airlines Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised 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. BNP Paribas raised American Airlines Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on American Airlines Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.68.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of American Airlines Group stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $17.52. 31,788,873 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,872,006. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.58. The company has a market cap 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 has a twelve month low of $9.07 and a twelve month high of $18.20.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $1,763,009.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,967,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAL. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 57,339,666 shares of the airline's stock valued at $644,498,000 after buying an additional 458,310 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 9,088,188 shares of the airline's stock valued at $102,151,000 after buying an additional 508,119 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $48,047,000 after buying an additional 1,823,928 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 379.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,667,539 shares of the airline's stock valued at $18,743,000 after buying an additional 1,319,859 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 107.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,519,904 shares of the airline's stock valued at $17,084,000 after purchasing an additional 787,671 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.