Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $46.81 Million Holdings in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,808,036 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 110,259 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $46,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEO. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 95.7% during 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. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2,239.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 171.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,548 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the third quarter worth about $141,000. 97.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AEO. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $19.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters

In other news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,999 shares of American Eagle Outfitters stock in a transaction on 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

American Eagle Outfitters Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE AEO opened at $14.41 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.62. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.07 and a 12-month high of $26.44. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.53.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The apparel retailer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.74%.

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.