Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 112,696 Shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,064,714 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $22,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 49,292 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 27,500 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,085,016 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $51,242,000 after buying an additional 155,017 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $193,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 2.3% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 235,820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,917,000 after buying an additional 5,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 25.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,455 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 7,583 shares in the last quarter. 97.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 232,459 shares in the company, valued at $4,881,639. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total value of $46,917.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,319 shares of company stock valued at $1,732,938 in the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AEO shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays upped their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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 report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.18.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE AEO opened at $23.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.21. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.95 and a 1 year high of $26.44.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.11. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Eagle Outfitters declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase 30,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.14%.

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.