American Airlines Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 132,912 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 37% compared to the typical volume of 96,958 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AAL shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,888,859 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,010,566,000 after buying an additional 667,660 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Airlines Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,197,531 shares of the airline’s stock worth $209,161,000 after purchasing an additional 331,613 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in American Airlines Group by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 12,675,358 shares of the airline’s stock worth $174,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001,247 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in American Airlines Group by 28.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,119,358 shares of the airline’s stock worth $155,249,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in American Airlines Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,140,602 shares of the airline’s stock worth $65,388,000 after purchasing an additional 145,382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAL opened at $13.15 on Friday. American Airlines Group has a 1-year low of $10.86 and a 1-year high of $19.08. The company has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.55.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.18. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 36.28%. The business had revenue of $13.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Airlines Group will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.