Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New $226,000 Investment in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 21,395 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 0.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 34,525 shares of the airline’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,987 shares of the airline’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP grew its holdings in American Airlines Group by 208.5% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 1,749 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on American Airlines Group from $21.50 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.68.

American Airlines Group Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:AAL opened at $10.90 on Friday. American Airlines Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.50 and a 1-year high of $19.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.70.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The airline reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 28.56% and a net margin of 1.56%. American Airlines Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.34) EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

American Airlines Group 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.