Weiss Ratings Reiterates "Hold (C)" Rating for American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Hold (C)" rating for American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) amidst mixed analyst opinions on the stock.
• American Eagle's latest earnings report revealed a better-than-expected EPS of $0.45, beating estimates despite a 0.6% decline in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• Insider trading activity saw significant sales, with top executives Janice E. Page and Jennifer M. Foyle selling a total of 81,819 shares in early September, indicating a notable decline in their ownership stakes.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reissued by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $12.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $10.00 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $14.72.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEO traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.46. The company had a trading volume of 2,731,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,446,946. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.30. American Eagle Outfitters has a twelve month low of $9.27 and a twelve month high of $21.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 3.74%.The business's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Janice E. Page sold 26,869 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total value of $484,716.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 90,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,630,509.32. This trade represents a 22.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 54,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.14, for a total value of $996,793.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 221,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,010,880.98. This trade represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,766 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,354 over the last quarter. 8.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth $895,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter valued at $190,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 220.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 13,931 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 9,584 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 21.7% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 77,340 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 13,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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