American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. $AEO Shares Sold by Venture Visionary Partners LLC

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC cut its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 132,660 shares and leaving it with 134,017 shares worth about $3.53 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: analysts have trimmed price targets, and the stock’s consensus rating is currently “Hold” with an average target price of $20.36.
• American Eagle reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $0.14 and revenue of $1.20 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share payable July 24.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC decreased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Free Report) by 49.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,017 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 132,660 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC owned approximately 0.08% of American Eagle Outfitters worth $3,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,000,419 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $158,231,000 after acquiring an additional 680,332 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 151,993.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 65,400 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,725,000 after buying an additional 65,357 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 16.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 628,541 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $10,754,000 after buying an additional 90,987 shares in the last quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth about $11,051,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 4.2% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,493,902 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $25,561,000 after buying an additional 60,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.36.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

AEO opened at $18.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.42 and a 52-week high of $28.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.05. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.34.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The apparel retailer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.29) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. American Eagle Outfitters's payout ratio is presently 30.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,887 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $49,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 2,887 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.32, for a total transaction of $50,002.84. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 8.95% of the company's stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc NYSE: AEO is a leading American specialty retailer offering apparel, accessories and personal care products for men and women. The company's flagship brand, American Eagle, focuses on casualwear including denim, tops, outerwear and accessories targeted primarily at teens and young adults. In addition to its core apparel lines, the company operates the Aerie brand of intimates, loungewear and swimwear, which has gained recognition for its body-positive marketing and inclusive sizing.

American Eagle Outfitters conducts business through a combination of over 900 brick-and-mortar stores in North America and Greater China, complemented by a growing e-commerce platform that serves customers around the globe.

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