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

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 178,484 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 57% compared to the average volume of 113,826 put options.

American Airlines Group Price Performance

AAL traded down $0.63 on Friday, hitting $15.23. The company had a trading volume of 55,549,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,482,143. The stock has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.01. American Airlines Group has a 1-year low of $9.07 and a 1-year high of $19.10.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 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, sell-side analysts forecast that American Airlines Group will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Airlines Group news, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total value of $890,187.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,865.80. This trade represents a 31.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $1,763,009.61. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Airlines Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth $60,190,000. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 60,225,707 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,049,734,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886,041 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,693,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in American Airlines Group in the fourth quarter worth about $40,333,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of American Airlines Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,141,000. 52.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Airlines Group to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated 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, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with 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, American Airlines Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.88.

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.