American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down to $21.78

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $21.78, but opened at $21.17. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $21.32, with a volume of 234,755 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AEO shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.68 and a 200-day moving average of $22.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The apparel retailer reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.06. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 19.39% and a net margin of 4.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 12th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.93, for a total value of $53,936.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 299.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 93,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 72.3% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. 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.