Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 92,900 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEO. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth $31,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AEO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.27.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of AEO opened at $22.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.59. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.95 and a 12-month high of $26.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.77.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.14%.

American Eagle Outfitters declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase 30,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total value of $652,010.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,585,416.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $420,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,881,639. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 26,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $652,010.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 226,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,585,416.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,319 shares of company stock valued at $1,732,938 over the last three months. 7.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Eagle Outfitters 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.