Short Interest in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Drops By 20.3%

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 11,940,000 shares, a decrease of 20.3% from the November 15th total of 14,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total value of $653,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,367,304.33. This trade represents a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock valued at $21,148,718. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 688,869 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $14,266,000 after buying an additional 15,038 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $141,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 51.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,263 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,679,000 after purchasing an additional 101,795 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at $931,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at $390,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AEO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of AEO opened at $17.20 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52 week low of $16.88 and a 52 week high of $26.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.19.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. American Eagle Outfitters’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.74%.

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.