American Eagle Outfitters Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 31,561 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 481% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,429 call options.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,223,953 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $170,431,000 after purchasing an additional 413,193 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,933,628 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $165,594,000 after buying an additional 184,067 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,505,340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $91,774,000 after acquiring an additional 472,683 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter valued at $119,691,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $97,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,693 shares during the period. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AEO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.44.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AEO opened at $13.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a twelve month low of $12.79 and a twelve month high of $26.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.32.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 announced 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 was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio 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.