American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $12.65, but opened at $11.26. American Eagle Outfitters shares last traded at $10.58, with a volume of 1,925,857 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AEO. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $18.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered American Eagle Outfitters from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.00.

American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.80.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 95.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake 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 shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2,239.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other 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.