American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) Short Interest Up 19.4% in February

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 60,710,000 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the February 13th total of 50,860,000 shares. Currently, 9.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of American Airlines Group stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of American Airlines Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total value of $890,187.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,865.80. The trade was a 31.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,470 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 5,152 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth about $98,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth about $8,009,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. 52.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAL. Scotiabank upgraded American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of American Airlines Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $18.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Airlines Group to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three 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 target price of $19.37.

American Airlines Group Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of AAL stock opened at $11.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.46. The company has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27. American Airlines Group has a 12 month low of $9.07 and a 12 month high of $19.10.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Airlines Group 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.