American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• American Eagle Outfitters shares gapped down from $12.85 to $12.30 before closing at $12.43, with a trading volume of over 2 million shares.
• Analysts have varied ratings on American Eagle Outfitters, with one "Buy," nine "Hold," and three "Sell" ratings, while the consensus price target is set at $14.40.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, yielding 4.0%, with a payout ratio of 51.02%.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $12.85, but opened at $12.30. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $12.43, with a volume of 2,195,112 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AEO. Zacks Research upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Cfra Research lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $14.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $11.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.43.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The apparel retailer reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 3.73%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. 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, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.02%.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEO. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,588,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1,510.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,509,057 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $41,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,225 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 7,791,193 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $90,534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,203 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter valued at about $18,927,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter valued at about $18,140,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.