American Eagle Outfitters Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 24,963 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 392% compared to the average daily volume of 5,069 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $17.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.48. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12-month low of $16.88 and a 12-month high of $26.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In related news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $20,039,979.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total value of $653,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,367,304.33. The trade was a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEO. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter worth about $140,000. 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.