Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 115,905 Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 520,044 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 115,905 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $11,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AEO. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 14.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 97,811 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 12,318 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 6.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 19,670 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 70.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,172 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 8,343 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 11.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,501 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the first quarter valued at about $432,000. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of AEO stock opened at $22.30 on Wednesday. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.95 and a 1 year high of $26.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.75. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.59.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 16,971 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.53, for a total value of $433,269.63. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares in the company, valued at $5,782,468.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,953 shares of company stock worth $2,268,075 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price 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 American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.27.

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.