Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Position in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,480 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 77,177 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.08% of American Eagle Outfitters worth $2,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,749,561 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $218,293,000 after purchasing an additional 268,326 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at $119,691,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $97,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,693 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,918,295 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $65,341,000 after purchasing an additional 226,821 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,496,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $55,906,000 after purchasing an additional 281,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AEO shares. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James assumed coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded American Eagle Outfitters from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down previously from $19.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of AEO opened at $13.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.64 and a 52-week high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. 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 was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.