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

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.0556.

A number of analysts have commented on AEO shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE AEO opened at $17.50 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83 and a beta of 1.58. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $9.27 and a one year high of $20.55.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.08%.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 9,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.11, for a total value of $163,026.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.12, for a total transaction of $724,800.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 138,766 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,354 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,570,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $122,820,000 after purchasing an additional 346,135 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 7,791,193 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $90,534,000 after buying an additional 1,794,203 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 5.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,649,952 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $113,781,000 after buying an additional 320,750 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 920.6% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,497,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,066,000 after buying an additional 4,959,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 22.2% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,305,889 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $61,654,000 after buying an additional 962,730 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

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.