Brokerages Set American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Price Target at $14.72

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.0556.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays upped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $17.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.05 and its 200 day moving average is $13.20. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $9.27 and a one year high of $20.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is presently 48.08%.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total transaction of $49,917.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.22, for a total value of $96,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 48,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $934,860.80. This trade represents a 9.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 138,766 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,354. 8.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the first quarter valued at $38,588,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 7,791,193 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $90,534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,203 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,140,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,305,889 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $61,654,000 after purchasing an additional 962,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,455,961 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,158,000 after purchasing an additional 946,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.