American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s stock price fell 1.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $17.10 and last traded at $17.15. 724,478 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,660,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Friday. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.22.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total transaction of $653,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 200,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,367,304.33. The trade was a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock valued at $21,148,718. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,731,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $2,680,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 165.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,107,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $62,034,000 after buying an additional 1,936,938 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the second quarter valued at $16,861,000. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth about $3,146,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc operates as a multi-brand specialty retailer in the United States and internationally. The company provides jeans, apparel and accessories, and personal care products for women and men under the American Eagle brand; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections under the Aerie and OFFLINE by Aerie brands.