Insider Selling: American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Director Sells $48,527.76 in Stock

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 2,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.78, for a total transaction of $48,527.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:AEO traded up $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $16.64. 3,871,487 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,535,064. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.20. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.58 and a 52 week high of $28.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.31.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The apparel retailer reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 5.01%.The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.29) earnings per share. American Eagle Outfitters’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.91.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 920.6% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,497,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,066,000 after buying an additional 4,959,039 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 162.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,336,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $105,818,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926,230 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,954,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 794.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,296,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $21,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,091 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the first quarter valued at approximately $16,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

About American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc (NYSE: AEO) is a leading American specialty retailer offering apparel, accessories and personal care products for men and women. The company’s flagship brand, American Eagle, focuses on casualwear including denim, tops, outerwear and accessories targeted primarily at teens and young adults. In addition to its core apparel lines, the company operates the Aerie brand of intimates, loungewear and swimwear, which has gained recognition for its body-positive marketing and inclusive sizing.

American Eagle Outfitters conducts business through a combination of over 900 brick-and-mortar stores in North America and Greater China, complemented by a growing e-commerce platform that serves customers around the globe.