American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Trading Up 3.3% – Still a Buy?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares were up 3.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $18.22 and last traded at $17.78. Approximately 1,207,496 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 4,494,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.77. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.52.

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

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total transaction of $653,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 200,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,367,304.33. The trade was a 13.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock valued at $21,148,718 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,788,750 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $536,142,000 after buying an additional 310,808 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 1st quarter valued at $423,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 222,478 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $5,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12,230 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 76.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 43,377 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 18,735 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 6.6% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.