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

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $20.00 price objective on the airline’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $12.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.06% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on AAL. Susquehanna upped their price target on American Airlines Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Melius upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $10.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Airlines Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.10.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AAL opened at $17.69 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. American Airlines Group has a 1-year low of $9.07 and a 1-year high of $18.20.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its 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 period last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at American Airlines Group

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, valued at $51,079,004.64. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Airlines Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAL. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 56.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 55.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,152 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in American Airlines Group by 44.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,932 shares of the airline’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the period. 52.44% of the stock is currently 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.