American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 472,683 Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,505,340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 472,683 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $91,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter worth $1,146,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at $4,948,000. Xponance Inc. raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,036 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 215,336 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,590,000 after purchasing an additional 48,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter worth about $277,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AEO shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $16.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

AEO opened at $12.76 on Tuesday. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a one year low of $10.74 and a one year high of $26.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.57.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total value of $48,043.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.