American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $12.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.48, but opened at $12.30. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. American Airlines Group shares last traded at $12.89, with a volume of 41,794,633 shares trading hands.

AAL has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of American Airlines Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $16.00 to $8.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $12.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of American Airlines Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Airlines Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on American Airlines Group from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Airlines Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,751 shares of the airline's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,558 shares of the airline's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the airline's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,289 shares of the airline's stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 58.0% in the 1st quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,839 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.44% of the company's stock.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average is $11.35 and its 200 day moving average is $12.91. The stock has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.36.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The airline reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.10. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 1.26% and a negative return on equity of 26.59%. The company had revenue of $12.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.34) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current 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.