American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Coverage Initiated at Raymond James

Investment analysts at Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) in a research note issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:AEO opened at $17.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.28. American Eagle Outfitters has a twelve month low of $16.88 and a twelve month high of $26.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted 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 firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total value of $405,976.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,507,894.04. This trade represents a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718 over the last ninety days. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investors Research Corp raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 46,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% in the second 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 period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position 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, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 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.