American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Downgraded by StockNews.com

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.82.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

AEO opened at $25.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.65. American Eagle Outfitters has a 1 year low of $9.95 and a 1 year high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $652,010.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 226,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,585,416.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 232,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,881,639. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $652,010.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,585,416.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,074 shares of company stock valued at $2,850,948 over the last 90 days. 7.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1,990.1% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,321,911 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $39,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,162,976 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 119,073.0% in the first quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,752,896 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,999,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750,586 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1,050.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,681,465 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $56,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,448,400 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 15.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,571,205 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $170,967,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 135.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,981,091 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.10% of the company’s stock.

About American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc operates as a specialty retailer that provides clothing, accessories, and personal care products under the American Eagle and Aerie brands in the United States and internationally. The company provides jeans, apparel and accessories, and personal care products for women and men; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections.