American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

AEO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of AEO opened at $19.29 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.36. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52-week low of $11.69 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The apparel retailer reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.12% and a return on equity of 19.39%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 12th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 12th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.05%.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $46,917.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 299.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 6,980.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.