American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Up to $24.42

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.42, but opened at $25.25. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $24.57, with a volume of 1,058,342 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.27.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 3.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.52.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.11. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is currently 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase 30,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.82, for a total transaction of $180,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,808.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $1,243,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,818,875.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.82, for a total transaction of $180,740.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,808.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,953 shares of company stock worth $3,511,875 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AEO. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 97,811 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 12,318 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 19,670 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 70.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,172 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 8,343 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,501 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,129 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter valued at $432,000. 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.