American Eagle Outfitters Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 15,934 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 73% compared to the average daily volume of 9,209 call options.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

NYSE AEO traded up $0.66 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.12. 4,357,263 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,498,656. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $17.02 and a 200-day moving average of $18.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12-month low of $14.10 and a 12-month high of $28.46.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The apparel retailer reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 23.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Noel Spiegel sold 3,617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.68, for a total transaction of $63,948.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cary McMillan sold 3,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.20, for a total value of $65,829.40. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 8.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $458,632,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,261,614 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $154,663,000 after purchasing an additional 509,326 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 162.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,336,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $105,818,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926,230 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the second quarter worth approximately $46,023,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,637,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair reissued a “buy” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.55.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc is a specialty retailer that designs, markets and sells apparel, accessories and personal-care products. The company serves teens and young adults through its American Eagle brand, which offers casual clothing including jeans, tops, outerwear, underwear and related accessories.

American Eagle Outfitters also operates Aerie, a lifestyle brand focused on intimates, activewear, swimwear, loungewear and apparel, as well as OFFLINE by Aerie, which emphasizes active and leisure clothing.