American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Trading Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was down 3.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $17.14 and last traded at $17.17. Approximately 738,803 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 4,484,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays decreased 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 research note on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. UBS Group cut their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.87.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were 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 owns 1,771,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total value of $653,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,367,304.33. This represents a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock valued at $21,148,718. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 46,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 93,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 49,669 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 15,275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. 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.