American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 51,720,000 shares, a growth of 27.5% from the March 31st total of 40,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 32,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

American Airlines Group Trading Down 1.8 %

AAL stock opened at $13.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 1.57. American Airlines Group has a 1-year low of $10.86 and a 1-year high of $19.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.64.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $12.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 31.65% and a net margin of 0.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in American Airlines Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,411,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in American Airlines Group by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,119,358 shares of the airline’s stock worth $155,249,000 after buying an additional 2,672,793 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in American Airlines Group during the 3rd quarter worth $28,867,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in American Airlines Group by 191.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,333,370 shares of the airline’s stock worth $42,448,000 after buying an additional 2,190,456 shares during the period. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in American Airlines Group by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 12,675,358 shares of the airline’s stock worth $174,159,000 after buying an additional 2,001,247 shares during the period. 52.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAL shares. Evercore ISI reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of American Airlines Group in a report on Monday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on American Airlines Group from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on American Airlines Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.53.

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.