Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $97.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $98.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $122.71.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ANF stock opened at $112.84 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $21.74 and a fifty-two week high of $140.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 1.58.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The apparel retailer reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.14. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 38.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.95, for a total value of $4,478,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,330,996.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jay Rust sold 786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.41, for a total value of $98,572.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,165.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.95, for a total value of $4,478,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,330,996.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,786 shares of company stock worth $20,096,812. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,299,726 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $230,317,000 after purchasing an additional 177,790 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,191,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $348,992,000 after buying an additional 146,384 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 12,439.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,894 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,544,000 after buying an additional 5,271,516 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,271,987 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $90,794,000 after buying an additional 120,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,121,400 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $58,869,000 after acquiring an additional 44,221 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks brands.