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

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.40.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AEO shares. Raymond James began coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $16.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. American Eagle Outfitters has a fifty-two week low of $16.20 and a fifty-two week high of $26.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.01.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total transaction of $405,976.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,406.24. This represents a 31.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,703 shares of company stock worth $1,108,738 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 46.6% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,412 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 10,614 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,399,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 93,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 12.2% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 44,689 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 4,851 shares during the period. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.