Empowered Funds LLC Makes New $242,000 Investment in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,539 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AEO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

NYSE AEO opened at $13.76 on Friday. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.64 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.07 and a 200-day moving average of $18.58.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted 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. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

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.