Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.97 Million Position in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 92,900 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,966,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter valued at $1,629,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 520,044 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $11,004,000 after purchasing an additional 115,905 shares in the last quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 243,469 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $5,152,000 after purchasing an additional 7,649 shares in the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.27.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of AEO stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,031,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,623,064. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.59. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $23.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.81. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.95 and a 1-year high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback 30,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.82, for a total transaction of $180,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,808.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $652,010.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 226,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,585,416.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.82, for a total transaction of $180,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,266 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $445,808.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,319 shares of company stock worth $1,732,938. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company's stock.

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.