American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Stock Price Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares traded down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $16.70 and last traded at $17.03. 1,465,298 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 4,678,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AEO. Bank of America dropped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.74%.

Insider Activity

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total transaction of $653,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200,427 shares in the company, valued at $4,367,304.33. This trade represents a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $49,061.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,703 shares of company stock worth $1,108,738 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEO. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 1.4% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 46,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,537 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 93,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 49,669 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.