American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Up 2.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) were up 2.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $17.67 and last traded at $17.58. Approximately 843,718 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,667,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AEO shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com downgraded American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Raymond James began coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.12.

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

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total transaction of $405,976.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,406.24. This represents a 31.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 46,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 93,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 49,669 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.