Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys Shares of 1,493,595 American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,493,595 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $26,033,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.23% of American Airlines Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in American Airlines Group by 56.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,533 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in American Airlines Group by 55.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,152 shares of the airline’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,204 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in American Airlines Group by 44.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,932 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Airlines Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $114,000. 52.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

NASDAQ AAL opened at $18.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.94. American Airlines Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.07 and a 52-week high of $18.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.35.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.14. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 0.51%. The firm 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 company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAL shares. 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 note on Monday, December 30th. TD Cowen raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Melius upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of American Airlines Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Airlines Group to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.42.

Insider Activity at American Airlines Group

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were 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 owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,079,004.64. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.