American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) experienced a significant stock price increase, opening at $17.75 after closing at $13.62, fueled by strong earnings that surpassed expectations.
• The company reported $0.45 EPS, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.20, along with revenues of $1.28 billion for the quarter, which was above the forecast of $1.23 billion.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds hold a significant majority, with 97.33% of the company's stock owned by these entities, reflecting strong market confidence in American Eagle Outfitters.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $13.62, but opened at $17.75. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $17.87, with a volume of 37,693,719 shares changing hands.

The apparel retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The company's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Cfra Research cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $13.94.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,570,088 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $122,820,000 after acquiring an additional 346,135 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 7,791,193 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $90,534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,203 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,329,202 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $60,887,000 after acquiring an additional 312,168 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,305,889 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $61,654,000 after acquiring an additional 962,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 37.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,455,961 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $40,158,000 after acquiring an additional 946,904 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company's stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $11.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59 and a beta of 1.44.

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.