American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.22, but opened at $17.71. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $17.99, with a volume of 812,097 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AEO. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 3.1 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.52.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 4.58%. American Eagle Outfitters’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total transaction of $405,976.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,406.24. This represents a 31.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718. 7.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $78,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth about $141,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.