American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.37.

American Airlines Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAL opened at $10.87 on Thursday. American Airlines Group has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $19.10. The company has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $15.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.43.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.47. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 28.56%. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Airlines Group will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at American Airlines Group

In related news, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total value of $890,187.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,865.80. This represents a 31.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,985,524 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,097,838,000 after buying an additional 953,766 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 60,225,707 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,049,734,000 after buying an additional 2,886,041 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,437,904 shares of the airline’s stock worth $94,783,000 after buying an additional 980,409 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,280,289 shares of the airline’s stock worth $92,043,000 after buying an additional 943,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

American Airlines Group Company Profile

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.