American Airlines Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 207,556 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 44% compared to the typical volume of 144,311 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Airlines Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in American Airlines Group by 133.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,592 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 208.5% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 1,749 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 269.3% during the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the airline’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 52.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

AAL stock opened at $12.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.09. The company has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.31. American Airlines Group has a 52 week low of $8.50 and a 52 week high of $19.10.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 28.56%. 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 revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American Airlines Group will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on American Airlines Group from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Airlines Group to $13.00 and gave the stock an “unchanged” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Airlines Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.68.

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.