Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 81,198 Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,726,838 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 81,198 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.58% of American Eagle Outfitters worth $31,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 380.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 258.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,045 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 38.7% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,173 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 137.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,358 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 price target on American Eagle Outfitters and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.70.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $9.92. 7,648,047 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,810,593. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 1.45. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.27 and a 1 year high of $22.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.38.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The apparel retailer reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.25) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.02%.

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.