American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Trading Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares dropped 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $17.56 and last traded at $17.58. Approximately 772,120 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 4,657,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AEO. 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of 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. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.32.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. This represents a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $49,061.67. 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 90 days. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the second quarter valued at approximately $78,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter worth approximately $108,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter valued at $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.