Strs Ohio Buys 34,600 Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Strs Ohio boosted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Free Report) by 135.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,200 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 34,600 shares during the period. Strs Ohio's holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,453,599 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $339,734,000 after purchasing an additional 60,418 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,092,955 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $128,927,000 after buying an additional 1,663,569 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,085,016 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $51,242,000 after buying an additional 155,017 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,259,598 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $37,532,000 after acquiring an additional 500,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at $12,592,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AEO. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised American Eagle Outfitters from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.27.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEO traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,106,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,589,770. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.97. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.95 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 3.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase 30,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $420,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,881,639. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other American Eagle Outfitters news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total value of $652,010.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,585,416.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,881,639. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,319 shares of company stock worth $1,732,938 over the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.