New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Position in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 144,557 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,642 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of American Eagle Outfitters worth $3,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter valued at $38,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Castleview Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 1,608.3% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 2,665 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,984 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $144,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $24.63 on Tuesday. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.95 and a 1-year high of $26.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.34.

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

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase 30,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AEO shares. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 232,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,881,639. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,319 shares of company stock valued at $1,732,938 over the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.