American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Trading 7.2% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• American Eagle Outfitters' stock price rose 7.2% to $19.65 during trading, with a significant decline of 39% in volume compared to the average daily trades.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for AEO, with UBS Group setting a new target of $21.50, while the consensus target price stands at $13.94.
• The company's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations at $0.45 earnings per share, and revenue totaled $1.28 billion, indicating strong performance despite a slight year-over-year decline.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 7.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $19.47 and last traded at $19.65. 5,767,565 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 9,515,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AEO. BTIG Research began coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Eagle Outfitters from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Cfra Research downgraded American Eagle Outfitters from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $12.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $14.72.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 4.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 1.45.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.25. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 3.74%.The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. American Eagle Outfitters's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. American Eagle Outfitters's payout ratio is currently 48.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 9,002 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.11, for a total value of $163,026.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Sable sold 5,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.22, for a total value of $96,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 48,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $934,860.80. The trade was a 9.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,821 shares of company stock worth $2,465,436. 8.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AEO. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,588,000. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,794,203 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,927,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,140,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company's stock.

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.