Short Interest in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) Drops By 20.3%

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 11,940,000 shares, a drop of 20.3% from the November 15th total of 14,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director David M. Sable sold 18,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.04, for a total value of $405,976.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,406.24. The trade was a 31.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.79, for a total value of $653,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,367,304.33. This trade 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 valued at $21,148,718. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Eagle Outfitters

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter worth $3,731,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth about $2,680,000. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in American Eagle Outfitters during the third quarter worth about $931,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 165.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,107,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $62,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $16,861,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AEO opened at $17.20 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.51. American Eagle Outfitters has a 52 week low of $16.88 and a 52 week high of $26.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.19.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its 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. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 4.28%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.91%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.40.

American Eagle Outfitters Company 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.