American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $20.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.54, but opened at $17.30. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $17.86, with a volume of 4,743,434 shares changing hands.

AEO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $78,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $140,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 14.2 %

The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.50.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.74%.

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.