Affinity Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $212,000 Investment in United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL)

Affinity Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in United Airlines in the first quarter valued at about $103,354,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in United Airlines by 489.2% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,295,246 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in United Airlines by 29.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,601,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $272,559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,604 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in United Airlines by 177.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,324,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $75,570,000 after purchasing an additional 847,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP acquired a new stake in United Airlines in the first quarter valued at $35,910,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UAL shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of United Airlines from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of United Airlines from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna upped their target price on United Airlines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on United Airlines from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on United Airlines from $70.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Airlines currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.94.

United Airlines Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UAL opened at $80.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.99. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.24 and a 52-week high of $81.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.23. United Airlines had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 30.72%. The business had revenue of $14.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that United Airlines Holdings, Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Airlines announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at United Airlines

In other United Airlines news, EVP Torbjorn J. Enqvist sold 14,500 shares of United Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total transaction of $1,044,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,190,744. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About United Airlines

United Airlines Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. The company transports people and cargo through its mainline and regional fleets. It also offers catering, ground handling, flight academy, and maintenance services for third parties.