UPDATE: Wedbush Upgrades American Eagle Outfitters; Raises PT

According to a research report published this morning, Wedbush has upgraded American Eagle Outfitters AEO from Neutral to Outperform, and raised PT from $14 to $22. In the report, Wedbush commented, "We are upgrading shares of AEO to OUTPERFORM from NEUTRAL, following strong checks, as we believe the company is at the cusp of earnings growth, driven by sales and gross margin expansion. Specifically, we believe new CEO Hanson's strategy to buy less inventory, combined with design improvements, should allow AEO to garner increased full-priced selling and margin recovery, particularly given lower input costs in H2." American Eagle closed yesterday at $18.01.