StockNews.com Downgrades American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) to Hold

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

AEO has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James started coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.60.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 3.1 %

AEO stock opened at $15.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.49. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52 week low of $15.36 and a 52 week high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is presently 42.74%.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 135,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after acquiring an additional 17,042 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 385,800 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,431,000 after buying an additional 24,600 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $185,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,534 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 3,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $195,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently 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.