American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Short Interest Down 6.4% in November

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,980,000 shares, a decrease of 6.4% from the October 31st total of 16,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insider Activity

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,771,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 688,869 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $14,266,000 after buying an additional 15,038 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $141,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 51.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,263 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,679,000 after acquiring an additional 101,795 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter valued at approximately $931,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $390,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of AEO remained flat at $19.93 during trading hours on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 4,930,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,531,357. American Eagle Outfitters has a twelve month low of $16.88 and a twelve month high of $26.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.52.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com cut American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

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.