American Eagle Outfitters’ (AEO) Neutral Rating Reiterated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated their neutral rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $23.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their prior target price of $27.00.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on AEO. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of AEO stock opened at $17.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.48. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $16.88 and a one year high of $26.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,771,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. This represents a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total value of $405,976.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $867,406.24. The trade was a 31.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,050,702 shares of company stock valued at $21,148,718 in the last 90 days. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter worth $78,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter valued at $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% 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.