American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.27.

AEO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $1,243,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 232,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,818,875.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $47,047.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $1,243,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares in the company, valued at $4,818,875.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,953 shares of company stock worth $3,511,875 in the last three months. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1,990.1% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,321,911 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $39,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,162,976 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 119,073.0% during the first quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,752,896 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,999,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750,586 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1,050.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,681,465 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $56,740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448,400 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 15.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,571,205 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $170,967,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 135.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,981,091 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713,420 shares in the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 2.3 %

AEO stock opened at $23.06 on Friday. American Eagle Outfitters has a 1-year low of $9.95 and a 1-year high of $26.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.51 and its 200 day moving average is $20.59.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 3.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase 30,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

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.