Raymond James & Associates Grows Position in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 161.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,645 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 26,325 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEO. Legato Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 61,844 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 10,501 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter valued at $144,000. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 35,086 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 6,892 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,453,599 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $339,734,000 after purchasing an additional 60,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 84.0% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AEO shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,881,639. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $652,010.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,585,416.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,881,639. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,319 shares of company stock worth $1,732,938 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE AEO opened at $22.52 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.59. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.95 and a 12 month high of $26.44.

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

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. 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 approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback 30,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.