American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $16.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, up from their previous target price of $15.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AEO. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James began coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Up 7.3 %

NYSE AEO opened at $17.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a twelve month low of $15.36 and a twelve month high of $26.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.30 and its 200 day moving average is $19.41.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $48,043.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 135,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after purchasing an additional 17,042 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 385,800 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,431,000 after buying an additional 24,600 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at $185,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,534 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 3,267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.