American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Stock Price Up 6.8% – Should You Buy?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares were up 6.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $18.83 and last traded at $18.80. Approximately 1,013,542 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 4,494,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEO has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Up 3.9 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.52.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 20.98%. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total value of $405,976.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $867,406.24. This trade represents a 31.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $49,061.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718 over the last three months. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEO. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 76.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 43,377 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 18,735 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 6.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 112,685 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 6,940 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the first quarter worth $598,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 132,994 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,430,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the period. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.