American Eagle Outfitters is near a 52-week low -- should I buy?

Over the weekend, I was looking around in the retail universe for potential bargains. Of course, where was I when Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) was at its lows? Oh well, can't dwell on the past, I guess.

I came across a stock I've looked at every so often -- American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO). Its 52-week low is an even $16 per share; the 52-week high is close to double that number. The closing price last Friday was $16.23. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that sales at the retailer probably haven't been doing too well in this weak economy -- yep, according to this Reuters piece, there was a bad double-digit drop in comps for the month of March. How bad? Try 12%. This led to a reduction for Q1 guidance. And, bingo, you got your weak stock.

Yet, American Eagle is still a decent mall brand, and its P/E ratio, according to AOL Finance, is pretty cheap at a value of about 9. The dividend yield is also worthy of note, as it is over 2%; that's higher than another stock I've been keeping my eye on, Target (NYSE: TGT). But there's a big difference between a Target and an American Eagle -- the latter is obviously more dependent on the whims of fashion trends. It's a different retailing model, catering to a specific demographic, and is thus potentially the riskier play. But as the market starts to discount an improving economy, as many theorize should happen overt the next several months, an American Eagle could rebound nicely. I'm not ready to buy shares yet, but I'll be watching this one.

Disclosure: I don't own shares in any of the companies mentioned here; positions can change at any time.