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

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AALGet Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 145,792 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average daily volume of 108,179 put options.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

Shares of AAL opened at $18.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.18, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.07 and a 200 day moving average of $12.86. American Airlines Group has a 1-year low of $9.07 and a 1-year high of $18.45.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AALGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $13.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.50 billion. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 0.51%. American Airlines Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In other news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $51,079,004.64. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in American Airlines Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $145,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 20,943.9% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 17,256 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 17,174 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Airlines Group by 22.5% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,381 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 4,850 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in American Airlines Group by 2.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,178 shares of the airline’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 1,432.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 597,368 shares of the airline’s stock worth $6,768,000 after buying an additional 558,384 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAL shares. UBS Group raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Melius Research upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.42.

View Our Latest Report on American Airlines Group

About American Airlines Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

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