Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,060,709 Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) by 41.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,514,862 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,060,709 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of American Airlines Group worth $15,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in American Airlines Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,985,524 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,097,838,000 after purchasing an additional 953,766 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 60,225,707 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,049,734,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,041 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 8.7% during the first quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 7,181,246 shares of the airline’s stock worth $75,762,000 after purchasing an additional 576,612 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,437,904 shares of the airline’s stock worth $94,783,000 after purchasing an additional 980,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,280,289 shares of the airline’s stock worth $92,043,000 after purchasing an additional 943,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAL. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of American Airlines Group to $13.00 and gave the stock an “unchanged” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of American Airlines Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $8.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.89.

American Airlines Group Trading Down 5.6%

AAL opened at $12.22 on Friday. American Airlines Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.50 and a twelve month high of $19.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.98.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The airline reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.10. American Airlines Group had a negative return on equity of 26.59% and a net margin of 1.26%. The firm had revenue of $12.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.34) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Airlines Group Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About American Airlines Group

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.