American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded American Eagle Outfitters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Up 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE AEO opened at $17.20 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $17.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52 week low of $15.36 and a 52 week high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction on 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEO. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at $119,691,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $97,858,000 after buying an additional 1,262,693 shares in the last quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter worth $11,519,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $55,906,000 after buying an additional 281,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter worth $5,489,000. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.