American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AEO. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $17.20 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52-week low of $16.06 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.69.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEO. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth approximately $141,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth $199,000. 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.