American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Research Coverage Started at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $25.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on AEO. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $23.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.45.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock opened at $25.44 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.70. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12 month low of $9.27 and a 12 month high of $25.57.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The apparel retailer reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.82% and a net margin of 3.90%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total value of $49,917.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 243,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.30, for a total transaction of $5,906,042.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 191,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,659,549.30. This trade represents a 55.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 41.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,307,326 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $22,196,000 after acquiring an additional 678,536 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 59.6% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 108,644 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 40,563 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 170.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 41,165 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 25,962 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 29.4% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 142,328 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 32,305 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter worth about $144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.