American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Short Interest Up 17.4% in January

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,370,000 shares, a growth of 17.4% from the January 15th total of 13,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $48,043.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter valued at approximately $119,691,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 1,510.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,509,057 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $41,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,225 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter valued at $35,267,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,370,626 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $97,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,693 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2,408.1% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,244,008 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $20,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,408 shares during the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of 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. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

AEO stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.47. 3,464,884 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,173,390. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52-week low of $14.07 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.20 and a 200-day moving average of $18.65.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. American Eagle Outfitters's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. 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.