American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AEO. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 0.3 %

AEO stock opened at $17.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.36. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12 month low of $15.36 and a 12 month high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $48,043.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,749,561 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $218,293,000 after buying an additional 268,326 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at $119,691,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $97,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,693 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 8.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,918,295 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $65,341,000 after purchasing an additional 226,821 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 12.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,496,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $55,906,000 after purchasing an additional 281,548 shares during the period. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.