American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Trading Up 0.8% Following Strong Earnings

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s share price shot up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $20.12 and last traded at $20.09. 1,302,310 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 4,522,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.93.

The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 4.58%. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEO. StockNews.com lowered American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $20,039,979.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,771,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,507,894.04. This represents a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total value of $405,976.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $867,406.24. This represents a 31.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,050,702 shares of company stock valued at $21,148,718 in the last quarter. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 112,685 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 6,940 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 104,701 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 17,836 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 417.2% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 175,576 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,504,000 after purchasing an additional 141,628 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,059,000. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 83,481 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 6,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 3.1 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.50. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51.

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.