American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Airlines Group to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.42.

American Airlines Group Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.90.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $13.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.50 billion. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 0.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at American Airlines Group

In other American Airlines Group news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in American Airlines Group by 133.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,592 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the airline’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in American Airlines Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,152 shares of the airline’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,932 shares of the airline’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 3,047 shares during the last quarter. 52.44% of the stock is owned by 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.