American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) Releases Q1 Earnings Guidance

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of ~($0.80)-($0.60) for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of ($0.30). The company issued revenue guidance of ~flat yr/yr to ~$12.57 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.02 billion.

American Airlines Group Stock Performance

American Airlines Group stock opened at $12.50 on Tuesday. American Airlines Group has a one year low of $9.07 and a one year high of $19.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.27.

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The airline reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.47. American Airlines Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 28.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Airlines Group will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on American Airlines Group from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (down from $24.00) on shares of American Airlines Group in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of American Airlines Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of American Airlines Group from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert D. Isom, Jr. sold 102,441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.21, for a total transaction of $1,763,009.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,967,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,079,004.64. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Angela Owens sold 51,906 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.15, for a total transaction of $890,187.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,927,865.80. This represents a 31.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.