Cooke & Bieler LP Has $145.03 Million Stock Holdings in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Cooke & Bieler LP lessened its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,853,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 102,520 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 3.47% of American Eagle Outfitters worth $145,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total value of $652,010.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,585,416.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total value of $652,010.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,585,416.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,319 shares of company stock valued at $1,732,938. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective 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. raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.27.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 0.2 %

AEO stock opened at $22.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.84. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.95 and a 1-year high of $26.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.59.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.11. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase 30,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.14%.

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.