American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Hits New 12-Month Low - Here's Why

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.83 and last traded at $16.87, with a volume of 475475 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Friday. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. The business's 50 day moving average price is $19.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.15.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $20,039,979.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $49,061.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718 in the last three months. 7.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,749,561 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $218,293,000 after acquiring an additional 268,326 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth $119,691,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 18.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,472,073 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $89,263,000 after buying an additional 684,420 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $97,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,242,838 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $64,727,000 after acquiring an additional 865,355 shares during the period. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Eagle Outfitters

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.