WINTON GROUP Ltd Increases Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,701 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,756 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $2,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 17.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,709 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 72,874 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 18,767 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 91.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 328.6% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $77.64 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52 week low of $74.31 and a 52 week high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $101.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

Abercrombie & Fitch Co engages in the retail of apparel, personal care products, and accessories. The firm operates through following geographical segments: Americas, EMEA and APAC. The Americas segment includes operations in North America and South America. The EMEA segment includes operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.