American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI to $18.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the airline’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential downside of 2.07% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Scotiabank raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of American Airlines Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.42.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

Shares of AAL opened at $18.38 on Thursday. American Airlines Group has a 1-year low of $9.07 and a 1-year high of $18.45. The stock has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 55.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.75.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Airlines Group will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at American Airlines Group

In other news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total value of $1,763,009.61. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAL. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in American Airlines Group by 56.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the airline’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 8.2% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 14,894 shares of the airline’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,178 shares of the airline’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.3% during the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 37,840 shares of the airline’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 20.2% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,663 shares of the airline’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 2,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.