American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.83 and last traded at $16.87, with a volume of 475475 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.09. The company has a market capitalization 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.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.05%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total value of $653,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,367,304.33. The trade was a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $49,061.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,703 shares of company stock worth $1,108,738 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 2.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,749,561 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $218,293,000 after purchasing an additional 268,326 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter worth about $119,691,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 18.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,472,073 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $89,263,000 after purchasing an additional 684,420 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $97,858,000 after buying an additional 1,262,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,242,838 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $64,727,000 after acquiring an additional 865,355 shares in the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is currently 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.