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

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.44.

AEO has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Activity 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 that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.30% 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. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1,510.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,509,057 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $41,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,225 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter worth about $35,267,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $97,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,693 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 2,408.1% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,244,008 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $20,738,000 after buying an additional 1,194,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of NYSE AEO opened at $12.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.64 and a 200-day moving average of $18.22. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52-week low of $12.22 and a 52-week high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during 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 firm’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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

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.