American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.60.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE AEO opened at $15.61 on Tuesday. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12-month low of $15.36 and a 12-month high of $26.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.48 and its 200-day moving average is $19.49.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $931,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $3,731,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $2,680,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter worth $16,861,000. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $3,146,000. 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.