American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.31 and last traded at $27.0350, with a volume of 14287057 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AEO shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $23.00 target price on American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.45.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 1.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15 and a beta of 1.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The apparel retailer reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.82% and a net margin of 3.90%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 43.10%.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,945 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 243,047 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.30, for a total transaction of $5,906,042.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 191,751 shares in the company, valued at $4,659,549.30. The trade was 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter worth about $135,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the first quarter worth about $18,140,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 3.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,570,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $122,820,000 after acquiring an additional 346,135 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,016,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the first quarter valued at approximately $851,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.