American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $16.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, up from their previous target price of $15.00.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AEO. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $17.33 on Tuesday. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $15.36 and a one year high of $26.44. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $17.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.38.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

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 stock was sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total value of $48,043.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 95.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.