American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $21.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.54, but opened at $17.30. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $17.86, with a volume of 4,743,434 shares trading hands.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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 report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total transaction of $653,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 200,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,367,304.33. This trade represents a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $49,061.67. 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 Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% during the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 46,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 93,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.1% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 49,669 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 7.8% during the second quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 15,275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 13.6 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

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.