American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.55.

AEO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective 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 Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $17.90 on Friday. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52 week low of $14.10 and a 52 week high of $28.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.28.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The apparel retailer reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.1250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Noel Spiegel sold 3,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.68, for a total value of $63,948.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 3,617 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.20, for a total value of $65,829.40. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 8.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEO. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter worth $36,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth $44,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 31.9% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the second quarter worth $57,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc is a specialty retailer that designs, markets and sells apparel, accessories and personal-care products. The company serves teens and young adults through its American Eagle brand, which offers casual clothing including jeans, tops, outerwear, underwear and related accessories.

American Eagle Outfitters also operates Aerie, a lifestyle brand focused on intimates, activewear, swimwear, loungewear and apparel, as well as OFFLINE by Aerie, which emphasizes active and leisure clothing.