American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $16.23, but opened at $17.05. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $15.57, with a volume of 1,359,072 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEO. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.90.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 3.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.61 and its 200-day moving average is $19.54.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s payout ratio is 42.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $119,691,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at $16,861,000. Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,519,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,496,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $55,906,000 after acquiring an additional 281,548 shares during the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.