Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 15,000 American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. $AEO

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. has acquired 15,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) valued at approximately $174,000 in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for AEO show mixed sentiments, with Citigroup raising the target price to $15.00 while others, like Bank of America, set it at $10.00, reflecting varied outlooks on the company's performance.
• American Eagle Outfitters reported $1.28 billion in revenue for the last quarter, beating estimates and showing a slight decline of 0.6% year-over-year, alongside earnings per share of $0.45.

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,000 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $174,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 380.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 38.7% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,173 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 654,400.0% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,545 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 6,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the first quarter valued at $131,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.12, for a total transaction of $724,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Janice E. Page sold 26,869 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total transaction of $484,716.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 90,383 shares in the company, valued at $1,630,509.32. The trade was a 22.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,821 shares of company stock worth $2,369,336 in the last three months. 8.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 1.9%

AEO traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,683,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,847,406. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.27 and a 52-week high of $22.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.59. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.45.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.25. The firm 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%. American Eagle Outfitters's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AEO shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $13.94.

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.