American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $20,039,979.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,771,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,507,894.04. This represents a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total transaction of $405,976.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,406.24. This trade represents a 31.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock valued at $21,148,718. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 46,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 93,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 49,669 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 15,275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

NYSE AEO opened at $18.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.65. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $16.88 and a one year high of $26.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.52.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 4.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

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.