American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Bank of America from $11.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 23.70% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AEO. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.60.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of AEO traded up $2.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $23.59. The stock had a trading volume of 11,388,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,963,346. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.00. American Eagle Outfitters has a fifty-two week low of $9.27 and a fifty-two week high of $24.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 2nd. The apparel retailer reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director David M. Sable sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.22, for a total value of $96,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 48,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $934,860.80. This represents a 9.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total transaction of $49,917.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 138,766 shares of company stock worth $2,515,354 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $36,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 8,432.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1,655.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,475 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.