American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Trading Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s share price was down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $16.70 and last traded at $17.03. Approximately 1,465,298 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 4,678,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AEO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (down from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on 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. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.93 and its 200 day moving average is $20.09.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $49,061.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total value of $653,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200,427 shares in the company, valued at $4,367,304.33. The trade was a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,703 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,738. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at $78,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $140,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.