Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of American Airlines Group Put Options (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 132,912 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 37% compared to the typical daily volume of 96,958 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Airlines Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in American Airlines Group by 100.0% during the third quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Airlines Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in American Airlines Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in American Airlines Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 52.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAL shares. Evercore ISI reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of American Airlines Group in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of American Airlines Group in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Airlines Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Airlines Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.53.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAL opened at $13.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 1.57. American Airlines Group has a 52-week low of $10.86 and a 52-week high of $19.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.54.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $13.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.01 billion. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 36.28%. American Airlines Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Airlines Group will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.