American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Here’s What Happened

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) dropped 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $16.97 and last traded at $17.08. Approximately 448,455 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 4,682,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.12.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 31.88 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AEO. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% during the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 46,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other 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.