StockNews.com Begins Coverage on American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Cowen boosted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, November 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued an underweight rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a market perform rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.92.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of AEO opened at $12.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.52. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12 month low of $9.46 and a 12 month high of $19.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $15.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The apparel retailer reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 2.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 6th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 70,214 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.88, for a total transaction of $1,185,212.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 140,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,372,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 70,214 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.88, for a total transaction of $1,185,212.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 140,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,372,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael R. Rempell sold 33,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.99, for a total transaction of $537,935.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 171,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,749,848.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,853 shares of company stock valued at $2,001,454 over the last 90 days. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 25.9% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 24,356,394 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $236,988,000 after buying an additional 5,013,262 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 1,285.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,981,308 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,332,000 after buying an additional 2,766,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 15.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,571,205 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $170,967,000 after buying an additional 2,369,726 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth about $17,703,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 135.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,981,091 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713,420 shares during the last quarter. 93.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

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American Eagle Outfitters, Inc is a multi-brand specialty retailer, which offers an assortment of apparel and accessories for men and women under the American Eagle Outfitters brand, and intimates, apparel and personal care products for women under the Aerie brand. The firm operates stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom.