United Continental (UAL) Raised to “Outperform” at Sanford C. Bernstein

United Continental (NYSE:UAL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, The Fly reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded United Continental from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Atlantic Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up previously from $58.87) on shares of United Continental in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded United Continental from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. ValuEngine upgraded United Continental from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $68.00 target price on United Continental and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.47.

Shares of United Continental (NYSE UAL) opened at $67.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19,487.48, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.05. United Continental has a 52-week low of $56.51 and a 52-week high of $83.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

United Continental (NYSE:UAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.41 billion. United Continental had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 5.65%. United Continental’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. equities analysts expect that United Continental will post 7.42 EPS for the current year.

United Continental announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UAL. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in United Continental by 100.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,159 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 6,597 shares in the last quarter. People s United Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Continental by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. People s United Financial Inc. now owns 14,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of United Continental by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 41,728 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,146,000 after buying an additional 6,677 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of United Continental by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 46,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,477,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of United Continental during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.79% of the company’s stock.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: “United Continental (UAL) Raised to “Outperform” at Sanford C. Bernstein” was originally reported by American Banking and Market News and is owned by of American Banking and Market News. If you are accessing this article on another site, it was stolen and republished in violation of US and international trademark & copyright laws. The original version of this article can be read at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2018/01/31/united-continental-ual-raised-to-outperform-at-sanford-c-bernstein.html.

About United Continental

United Continental Holdings, Inc (UAL) is a holding company and its principal subsidiary is United Air Lines, Inc (United). The Company transports people and cargo through its mainline operations. It has global air rights in North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The Company, through United and its regional carriers, operates flights from its hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport (Newark Liberty), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (Chicago O’Hare), Denver International Airport (Denver), George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston Bush), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), A.B.

The Fly

Analyst Recommendations for United Continental (NYSE:UAL)