American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.65 and last traded at $18.64, with a volume of 30594683 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Melius Research raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.94.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.49, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.07.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. American Airlines Group’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $1,763,009.61. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,497 shares of the airline’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in American Airlines Group by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,119 shares of the airline’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 18,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $186,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 133.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

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.