Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys Shares of 85,276 American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 85,276 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,804,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,092,955 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $128,927,000 after buying an additional 1,663,569 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 5.3% during the third 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 position in American Eagle Outfitters by 28.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,259,598 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $37,532,000 after buying an additional 500,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $12,592,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:AEO traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,526,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,550,087. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.99. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.95 and a 1 year high of $26.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.59.

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

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th 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 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters's payout ratio is 58.14%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AEO. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com cut American Eagle Outfitters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.27.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,881,639. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,881,639. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,585,416.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,319 shares of company stock valued at $1,732,938. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Eagle Outfitters 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.