American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.4545.

AEO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 target price on American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded American Eagle Outfitters from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,896 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.21, for a total value of $49,694.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 243,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.30, for a total value of $5,906,042.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 191,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,659,549.30. This represents a 55.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 246,839 shares of company stock worth $6,004,388. 8.70% 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,398,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $485,166,000 after acquiring an additional 249,158 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,752,288 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $230,801,000 after purchasing an additional 77,758 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,649,952 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $113,781,000 after purchasing an additional 320,750 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,606,362 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 39,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,000,419 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $158,231,000 after buying an additional 680,332 shares during the period. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

NYSE:AEO opened at $25.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.42. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12-month low of $9.27 and a 12-month high of $28.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The apparel retailer reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.82% and a net margin of 3.90%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.10%.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc (NYSE: AEO) is a leading American specialty retailer offering apparel, accessories and personal care products for men and women. The company’s flagship brand, American Eagle, focuses on casualwear including denim, tops, outerwear and accessories targeted primarily at teens and young adults. In addition to its core apparel lines, the company operates the Aerie brand of intimates, loungewear and swimwear, which has gained recognition for its body-positive marketing and inclusive sizing.

American Eagle Outfitters conducts business through a combination of over 900 brick-and-mortar stores in North America and Greater China, complemented by a growing e-commerce platform that serves customers around the globe.