American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $10.00 to $9.00. The stock had previously closed at $12.72, but opened at $11.60. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $11.93, with a volume of 7,785,490 shares.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on AEO. Barclays reduced their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup set a $13.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,588,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1,510.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,509,057 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $41,826,000 after buying an additional 2,353,225 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter valued at $35,267,000. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,794,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter worth about $18,927,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.27 and its 200-day moving average is $14.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.56.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.76%.

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.