Piper Jaffray Raises Price Target on American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) Following Strong 4Q Results
Piper Jaffray maintained an Overweight rating on American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), and raised the price target to $20.00 (from $19.00), following the company's 4Q earnings report. AEO reported EPS of $0.42, at the high-end of AEO's prior announced EPS expectation range of $0.40-$0.42. Comparable-store sales came in at +4%, driven by higher average unit retail and units sold per transaction.
Analyst Neely Tamminga commented, "In what appears to be continued top-line acceleration and a rebound in the margin rate thus far in spring, we are raising our estimates on AEO and reiterating our Overweight rating on the shares. Solid product innovation in spring (e.g. Flex shorts for one) is helping to drive a solid bottoms business thus far this year. We believe investors should gain confidence in the building support for spring trends tracking well for specialty retailers-- of which AEO is no exception. This confidence is aided by AEO's guidance for a +MSD % FQ1 comparable store sales gain and indications for gross margin expansion in the quarter."
For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on American Eagle Outfitters click here. For more ratings news on American Eagle Outfitters click here.
Shares of American Eagle Outfitters closed at $15.44 yesterday.