American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Its Competitors Financial Comparison

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare American Eagle Outfitters to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares American Eagle Outfitters and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Eagle Outfitters	5.91%	23.63%	9.59%
American Eagle Outfitters Competitors	-3.62%	-13.77%	3.21%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for American Eagle Outfitters and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Eagle Outfitters	1	12	2	0	2.07
American Eagle Outfitters Competitors	3683	15611	21635	590	2.46

American Eagle Outfitters currently has a consensus price target of $19.55, suggesting a potential downside of 9.24%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 6.40%. Given American Eagle Outfitters’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Eagle Outfitters has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Dividends

American Eagle Outfitters pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. American Eagle Outfitters pays out 25.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.1% and pay out 35.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. American Eagle Outfitters has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. American Eagle Outfitters is clearly a better dividend stock than its rivals, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

American Eagle Outfitters has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Eagle Outfitters’ rivals have a beta of 1.91, indicating that their average stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Eagle Outfitters and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Eagle Outfitters	$5.50 billion	$191.98 million	10.99
American Eagle Outfitters Competitors	$7.06 billion	$386.51 million	31.16

American Eagle Outfitters’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than American Eagle Outfitters. American Eagle Outfitters is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.3% of American Eagle Outfitters shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.9% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 8.9% of American Eagle Outfitters shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

American Eagle Outfitters rivals beat American Eagle Outfitters on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. is a specialty retailer of apparel, accessories and personal-care products. Its American Eagle brand offers casual clothing, including denim, tops and accessories, while Aerie sells intimates, loungewear, swimwear and activewear. The company also operates OFFLINE by Aerie, a brand focused on activewear and apparel. The company sells through its retail stores and online channels, serving customers primarily in the United States and Canada, with additional international reach through stores and other distribution arrangements.