HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) by 86.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,706 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,653 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Airlines Group were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,033,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Airlines Group in the third quarter worth about $16,490,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 379.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,667,539 shares of the airline’s stock worth $18,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319,859 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,575,571 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $44,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,667 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of American Airlines Group by 451.2% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 797,738 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $8,967,000 after purchasing an additional 653,012 shares in the last quarter. 52.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAL. Redburn Partners upgraded 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. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

American Airlines Group stock opened at $10.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.47. American Airlines Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.07 and a 1 year high of $19.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.47. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 28.56% and a net margin of 1.56%. Equities analysts expect that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total transaction of $890,187.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,865.80. This represents a 31.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.