Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 52,445 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 964 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $1,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,721,106 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $350,709,000 after buying an additional 1,212,617 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,453,599 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $339,734,000 after buying an additional 60,418 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,243,454 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $85,473,000 after buying an additional 488,571 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,092,955 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $128,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,569 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,924,912 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $99,543,000 after purchasing an additional 72,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of AEO opened at $22.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.71. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.95 and a twelve month high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.11. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback 30,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEO. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $47,047.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $47,047.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 24,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total value of $488,089.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 232,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,674,750.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,953 shares of company stock worth $2,268,075. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters 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.