American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.83 and last traded at $16.87, with a volume of 475475 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James assumed coverage on American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued 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, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.15.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its earnings results 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. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. American Eagle Outfitters’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

Insider Activity at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total value of $405,976.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 39,356 shares in the company, valued at $867,406.24. The trade was a 31.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total transaction of $653,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 200,427 shares in the company, valued at $4,367,304.33. This represents a 13.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Eagle Outfitters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEO. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $218,293,000 after acquiring an additional 268,326 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth $119,691,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 18.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,472,073 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $89,263,000 after purchasing an additional 684,420 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 40.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 36.4% in 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. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.