American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.27.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th.

Insider Activity

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total transaction of $46,917.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.82, for a total transaction of $180,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,266 shares in the company, valued at $445,808.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total transaction of $46,917.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,953 shares of company stock worth $3,511,875 over the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEO. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter worth about $235,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 1st quarter valued at $476,000. FCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the first quarter worth about $1,530,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the 1st quarter valued at about $154,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the first quarter worth approximately $3,457,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEO opened at $23.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.59. American Eagle Outfitters has a fifty-two week low of $9.95 and a fifty-two week high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback 30,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.