American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Stock Price Up 6.4% on Analyst Upgrade

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was up 6.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $22.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. American Airlines Group traded as high as $14.75 and last traded at $14.73. Approximately 34,854,180 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 34,058,938 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.85.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on American Airlines Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Airlines Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gables Capital Management Inc. raised its position in American Airlines Group by 100.0% during the third quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in American Airlines Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.71.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $12.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 0.94% and a negative return on equity of 31.65%. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.05 earnings per share. Analysts expect that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.54 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.