American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

AEO has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America dropped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered American Eagle Outfitters from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

AEO opened at $13.34 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $15.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.45. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $13.31 and a one year high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. 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 firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is 42.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $48,043.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 95.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 258.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 2,239.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 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.