Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 3,500 Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,283 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $128,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,569 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 84.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 233,065 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 106,397 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 596,391 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,906,000 after purchasing an additional 145,038 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,729,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,259,598 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $37,532,000 after purchasing an additional 500,555 shares in the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.27.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of AEO stock opened at $22.37 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.76. The company has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.59. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.95 and a 1-year high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 30,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Eagle Outfitters news, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.82, for a total transaction of $180,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,266 shares in the company, valued at $445,808.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,221,028. Company insiders own 7.50% 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.