American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $12.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.45, but opened at $10.99. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a market perform rating on the stock. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $11.47, with a volume of 1,386,209 shares.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AEO. 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. Citigroup set a $13.00 price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total value of $48,043.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,223,953 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $170,431,000 after purchasing an additional 413,193 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,933,628 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $165,594,000 after buying an additional 184,067 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,505,340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $91,774,000 after purchasing an additional 472,683 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $97,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,918,295 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $65,341,000 after purchasing an additional 226,821 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.78.

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.