American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Upgraded to “Overweight” by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

by · The Cerbat Gem

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO – Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $31.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AEO. StockNews.com cut American Eagle Outfitters from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.27.

View Our Latest Analysis on American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Up 0.9 %

AEO stock opened at $23.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.54. American Eagle Outfitters has a 12-month low of $9.95 and a 12-month high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 3.23%. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase 30,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.14%.

Insider Transactions at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,363 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $47,047.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $47,047.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO James H. Keefer, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.82, for a total transaction of $180,740.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,808.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,953 shares of company stock worth $3,511,875. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,092,955 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $128,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,569 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 84.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 233,065 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 106,397 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 32.1% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 596,391 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,906,000 after buying an additional 145,038 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,729,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,259,598 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $37,532,000 after buying an additional 500,555 shares during the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Eagle Outfitters Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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