UPDATE: Brean Murray Carret & Co. Upgrades American Eagle Outfitters

According to a research report published this morning, Brean Murray Carret & Co. has upgraded American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) from Hold to Buy.

In the report, Brean Murray Carret & Co. commented, "We are raising our rating for AEO to Buy (from Hold), instituting a price target of $23 and raising our FY13 EPS projection to $1.25 (from $1.10) and FY14 EPS to $1.42 (from $1.29) after American Eagle, in front of the 1Q earnings release on Wednesday before the open, announced the closure of the money draining 77kids operation and the departure of their CFO. We had been impressed with new CEO Robert Hanson's plan for the company to maximize returns; we are now impressed enough with his initial actions to aggressively raise estimates, our rating and institute a price target with implied returns of 25%."

American Eagle Outfitters closed Friday at $18.40.