Short Interest in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) Grows By 19.4%

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 60,710,000 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the February 13th total of 50,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 36,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 9.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAL. Redburn Partners raised 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of American Airlines Group to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Melius raised American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.30.

American Airlines Group Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAL opened at $11.07 on Wednesday. American Airlines Group has a 12 month low of $9.07 and a 12 month high of $19.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.70 and a 200-day moving average of $14.47. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Airlines Group

In other news, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of American Airlines Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,865.80. This trade represents a 31.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,967,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in American Airlines Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,751 shares of the airline’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of American Airlines Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 133,774 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in American Airlines Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 34,525 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in American Airlines Group by 133.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,592 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in American Airlines Group by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,987 shares of the airline’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

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.