Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Stock

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Citigroup from $15.00 to $18.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 0.98% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AEO. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.06.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

NYSE AEO opened at $17.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.24. American Eagle Outfitters has a 1 year low of $9.27 and a 1 year high of $20.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Janice E. Page sold 26,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total transaction of $484,716.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 90,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,630,509.32. This trade represents a 22.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 54,950 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.14, for a total transaction of $996,793.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 221,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,010,880.98. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 138,766 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,354 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEO. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the first quarter worth $38,588,000. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 29.9% during the first quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 7,791,193 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $90,534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794,203 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the first quarter worth about $18,140,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,395,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 22.2% in 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 buying an additional 962,730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.