Investors Buy Large Volume of American Eagle Outfitters Call Options (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 31,561 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 481% compared to the typical volume of 5,429 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.44.

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Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 95.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,916 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 258.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,045 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 2,239.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 97.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 2.2 %

AEO traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,464,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,643,880. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.53. American Eagle Outfitters has a 1 year low of $11.81 and a 1 year high of $26.44. The stock's 50-day moving average is $15.55 and its 200-day moving average is $18.15.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.30 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.