American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Lowered to “Equal Weight” Rating by Morgan Stanley

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) was downgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $17.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $19.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.70% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AEO. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.50.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Up 1.8 %

AEO opened at $15.79 on Wednesday. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52-week low of $15.36 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.13. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.53.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $48,043.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 3.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 103,514 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,066,000 after acquiring an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 35,395 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 319.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,162 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 8,499 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 66,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. Institutional investors 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.