May 20, 2023 – American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) experienced a significant drop in its share price on Friday, leaving some investors worried about the future of this apparel retailer. Citigroup revised their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 – a move that caused panic among traders as the shares traded at an all-time low of $12.42 before closing at $12.44.
Trading volume was marked by significant decline, with just 2,183,617 shares changing hands – a massive plunge of roughly 41% in comparison with average daily trading volumes of around 3,716,765 shares. The company’s stock had previously closed at $13.39 before the unfortunate fall.
In addition to these events, American Eagle Outfitters also recently announced a quarterly dividend payout which took place on April 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 6th were issued $0.10 per share as dividends – this gives shareholders an annualized dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date for this payout was Wednesday, April 5th and resulted in a dividend payout ratio (DPR) of roughly 64.52%.
Despite these challenges facing the company’s shares, we have seen an increasing number of institutional investors adding or reducing their stakes in American Eagle Outfitters recently. For instance, Raymond James & Associates acquired an additional 12,318 shares in the first quarter and now owns a total of 97,811 shares worth $1,643milion while AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC also entered the market worth about $432 million.
With hedge funds and other institutional investors owning up to 93.34% of AEO’s share capital today despite current market conditions affecting its performance on Wall Street; will the investment community stick it out with American Icon? Only time will tell.
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American Eagle Outfitters Defies Mixed Analyst Reviews with Strong Performance
American Eagle Outfitters Continues to Show Strength Despite Mixed Analyst Reviews
American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) has continued to show strength in its business, despite receiving mixed reviews from investment analysts. Recently, UBS Group lowered their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 but kept a “buy” rating on the stock, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target from $14.00 to $15.00.
Barclays decreased their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $16.00 to $13.00 and two investment analysts have rated the stock with a “sell” rating, while ten others issued a “hold” rating and one has given a “buy” rating to the clothing retailer.
Despite mixed analyst reviews, American Eagle Outfitters continues to perform well in the market, as evidenced by the recent sale of 43,202 shares of company stock worth $599,822 by insiders over the last ninety days.
Additionally, American Eagle Outfitters announced its quarterly dividend on April 21st for shareholders who were recorded as holders of record on April 6th. The dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently at 64.52%, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.40 per share and a dividend yield of 3.19%.
The apparel retailer also posted strong earnings results on March 1st when it reported an EPS of $0.37 per share for Q4 2022 – beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.07 – while generating revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion.
Moreover, American Eagle Outfitters has maintained its financial stability with a debt-to-equity ratio of just 0.01 and current ratio and quick ratio trending at acceptable levels.
Although some analysts have been lukewarm in their review of American Eagle Outfitters’ stock rating, the company continues to keep afloat amidst difficult retail conditions. It will be interesting to see if the clothing retailer can maintain its momentum and continue to produce strong earnings with solid returns for shareholders.
