American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $20.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.54, but opened at $17.30. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $17.86, with a volume of 4,743,434 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on AEO. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $20,039,979.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,771,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. This represents a 36.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total transaction of $653,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,367,304.33. This trade represents a 13.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.8% during 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 buying an additional 268,326 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $119,691,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 18.1% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $97,858,000 after buying an additional 1,262,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $64,727,000 after buying an additional 865,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company's stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 14.2 %

The business's 50-day moving average is $19.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

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.