Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 202,607 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 47% compared to the typical volume of 137,478 put options.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

AAL traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.62. The company had a trading volume of 58,266,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,305,289. American Airlines Group has a 12-month low of $8.50 and a 12-month high of $19.10. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $10.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.56. The company has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.39.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The airline reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $12.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.34) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Airlines Group will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAL. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of American Airlines Group to $13.00 and gave the company an "unchanged" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Partners raised shares of American Airlines Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Airlines Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.68.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Airlines Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,625,284 shares of the airline's stock valued at $671,247,000 after acquiring an additional 639,760 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in American Airlines Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 60,445,097 shares of the airline's stock valued at $637,696,000 after purchasing an additional 219,390 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its stake in American Airlines Group by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 7,181,246 shares of the airline's stock valued at $75,762,000 after buying an additional 576,612 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in American Airlines Group by 22.0% in the 4th 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,280,289 shares of the airline's stock valued at $92,043,000 after buying an additional 943,336 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.