Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL)

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 307,825 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 152% compared to the average daily volume of 122,007 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of American Airlines Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Monday. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of American Airlines Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. TD Cowen cut shares of American Airlines Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $16.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.03.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

American Airlines Group stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $10.60. 96,219,992 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,578,020. American Airlines Group has a fifty-two week low of $9.76 and a fifty-two week high of $16.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.68 and its 200-day moving average is $13.45.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.06). American Airlines Group had a net margin of 0.94% and a negative return on equity of 31.65%. The firm had revenue of $12.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Airlines Group will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Airlines Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAL. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 51.3% in the first quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the airline’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 1.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 58,573 shares of the airline’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the period. Eudaimonia Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 23,054 shares of the airline’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the period. Ackerman Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Airlines Group by 6.5% in the first quarter. Ackerman Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in American Airlines Group by 4.4% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 23,375 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. 52.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.