Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO)

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 31,561 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 481% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,429 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AEO shares. Raymond James began coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.44.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

NYSE:AEO opened at $13.06 on Friday. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52-week low of $12.79 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.30.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders 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 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $48,043.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,891,000. Brucke Financial Inc. bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 24,221 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 16,703 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 5,323 shares during the period. Finally, CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $175,000. Institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

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.