American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Short Interest Update

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,990,000 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the March 15th total of 20,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AEO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 90 days, insiders sold 98,953 shares of company stock worth $2,268,075. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 97,811 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after buying an additional 12,318 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 19,670 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 70.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,172 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 8,343 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,501 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 2,129 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 1st quarter valued at $432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.30. The company had a trading volume of 5,779,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,656,026. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.75. American Eagle Outfitters has a 1-year low of $9.95 and a 1-year high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 17.76%. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback 30,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.14%.

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.