American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) Competitors

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate CASY or AEO?

Casey's General Stores presently has a consensus target price of $467.33, suggesting a potential downside of 10.61%. American Eagle Outfitters has a consensus target price of $14.70, suggesting a potential upside of 36.87%. Given American Eagle Outfitters' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Eagle Outfitters is more favorable than Casey's General Stores.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Casey's General Stores	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58
American Eagle Outfitters	2 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.92

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CASY or AEO?

85.6% of Casey's General Stores shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of American Eagle Outfitters shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Casey's General Stores shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.7% of American Eagle Outfitters shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CASY or AEO more profitable?

American Eagle Outfitters has a net margin of 3.73% compared to Casey's General Stores' net margin of 3.43%. Casey's General Stores' return on equity of 16.28% beat American Eagle Outfitters' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Casey's General Stores	3.43%	16.28%	7.13%
American Eagle Outfitters	3.73%	13.34%	5.99%

Does the media refer more to CASY or AEO?

In the previous week, American Eagle Outfitters had 15 more articles in the media than Casey's General Stores. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for American Eagle Outfitters and 9 mentions for Casey's General Stores. Casey's General Stores' average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat American Eagle Outfitters' score of 0.51 indicating that Casey's General Stores is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Casey's General Stores	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Eagle Outfitters	10 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, CASY or AEO?

Casey's General Stores has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Eagle Outfitters has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CASY or AEO a better dividend stock?

Casey's General Stores pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. American Eagle Outfitters pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Casey's General Stores pays out 15.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Eagle Outfitters pays out 51.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Casey's General Stores has raised its dividend for 24 consecutive years and American Eagle Outfitters has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, CASY or AEO?

Casey's General Stores has higher revenue and earnings than American Eagle Outfitters. American Eagle Outfitters is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Casey's General Stores, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Casey's General Stores	$15.94B	1.22	$546.52M	$14.64	35.71
American Eagle Outfitters	$5.27B	0.35	$329.38M	$0.98	10.96

Summary

Casey's General Stores beats American Eagle Outfitters on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.