BlackRock Inc. Purchases 5,013,262 Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO – Get Rating) by 25.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,356,394 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,013,262 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned about 0.13% of American Eagle Outfitters worth $236,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,510,008 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $14,692,000 after purchasing an additional 16,079 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $17,703,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 68.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 600,373 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,842,000 after buying an additional 243,716 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 319,938 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after acquiring an additional 150,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lokken Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 34,115 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AEO. Jefferies Financial Group cut American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters to $23.00 in a report on Monday, November 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, EVP Michael R. Rempell sold 18,997 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.65, for a total transaction of $278,306.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 172,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,519,843.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 70,214 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 140,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,372,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael R. Rempell sold 18,997 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.65, for a total value of $278,306.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 172,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,519,843.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 122,853 shares of company stock valued at $2,001,454. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of AEO opened at $12.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.52. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.46 and a 52-week high of $19.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.43.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The apparel retailer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 13.27%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Cuts Dividend

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

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.