Traders Purchase High Volume of American Eagle Outfitters Call Options (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 17,034 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 123% compared to the average daily volume of 7,648 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEO. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $22.00 target price on American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Friday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,892 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.77, for a total transaction of $48,498.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 5,779 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total transaction of $99,572.17. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 53,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,477.63. This represents a 9.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,563 shares of company stock valued at $196,599. Corporate insiders own 8.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $458,632,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 920.6% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,497,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959,039 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 162.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,336,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $105,818,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926,230 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1,570.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,119,444 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $53,654,000 after purchasing an additional 2,932,699 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,023,000. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of AEO stock opened at $17.54 on Thursday. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12 month low of $12.50 and a 12 month high of $28.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The apparel retailer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.29) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.86%.

About American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc (NYSE: AEO) is a leading American specialty retailer offering apparel, accessories and personal care products for men and women. The company’s flagship brand, American Eagle, focuses on casualwear including denim, tops, outerwear and accessories targeted primarily at teens and young adults. In addition to its core apparel lines, the company operates the Aerie brand of intimates, loungewear and swimwear, which has gained recognition for its body-positive marketing and inclusive sizing.

American Eagle Outfitters conducts business through a combination of over 900 brick-and-mortar stores in North America and Greater China, complemented by a growing e-commerce platform that serves customers around the globe.