R Squared Ltd Makes New $170,000 Investment in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,740 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $170,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. KBC Group NV boosted its position in American Airlines Group by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,982 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 2,830 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in American Airlines Group by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,497 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in American Airlines Group by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,119 shares of the airline’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in American Airlines Group by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 18,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Airlines Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $186,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on American Airlines Group from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price (down previously from $24.00) on shares of American Airlines Group in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.99.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAL opened at $17.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.52, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.35. American Airlines Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.07 and a 52 week high of $19.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.38.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.47. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 18.62%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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