Imperial Capital Still Sees American Airlines As Top Pick In Sector

In a report published Wednesday, Imperial Capital analyst Bob McAdoo reiterated an Outperform rating and $92.00 price target on American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL).In the report, Imperial Capital noted, “AAL remains our top pick in the sector: We are maintaining our Outperform rating and one-year price target of $92. On 1/27/15, AAL reported record fourth quarter results. Updated management commentary provides us greater confidence in the company's ability to achieve record results in 2015. While competition in some domestic markets is likely to pressure unit revenue trends early in the year, we suspect, that in coming months, these issues will pass as promotional fares return to more normalized levels. More than offsetting any RASM pressure are substantially lower jet fuel costs, of which we expect American to fully participate in, given its no hedging policy. Much of the earnings impact of this decline has yet to be included in the current 2015 consensus estimates. The company should pass a substantial portion of these cost savings on to investors in the way of share repurchases and the retirement of high interest debt, we believe. Our price target represents about 75% potential upside from the recent share price.”American Airlines closed on Tuesday at $52.69.