Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Trading Up 5.9% – What’s Next?

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) shares were up 5.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $70.35 and last traded at $74.44. Approximately 1,080,354 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 1,906,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ANF. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 4.4 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.41.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANF. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after purchasing an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth approximately $88,478,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,829,000 after acquiring an additional 212,155 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter valued at $31,371,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter valued at $28,327,000.

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.