American Eagle Outfitters Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 24,963 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 392% compared to the average volume of 5,069 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,507,894.04. This trade represents a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 688,869 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $14,266,000 after acquiring an additional 15,038 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $141,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 51.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,263 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $6,679,000 after purchasing an additional 101,795 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth approximately $931,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter valued at approximately $390,000. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AEO. Barclays lowered their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.80.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEO traded down $2.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.62. 21,865,599 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,633,086. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. American Eagle Outfitters has a twelve month low of $16.88 and a twelve month high of $26.44. The business's fifty day moving average price is $19.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.50.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 4.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The business's revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.74%.

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.