American Eagle Outfitters Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 31,561 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 481% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,429 call options.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 1.8 %

American Eagle Outfitters stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $12.86. 2,203,934 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,129,658. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a fifty-two week low of $12.79 and a fifty-two week high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AEO shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered American Eagle Outfitters from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price 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, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $48,043.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEO. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 258.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2,239.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.