Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.71.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ANF shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $97.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $110.39 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52-week low of $21.74 and a 52-week high of $140.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.52.

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

Insider Transactions at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other news, EVP Jay Rust sold 786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.41, for a total transaction of $98,572.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,014 shares in the company, valued at $127,165.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Jay Rust sold 786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.41, for a total transaction of $98,572.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,014 shares in the company, valued at $127,165.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 35,000 shares of the business’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 $11,330,996.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,786 shares of company stock worth $20,096,812 over the last three months. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANF. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 42.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 29,951 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 8,902 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 48,703 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 4,049 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 318,200 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,179,000 after acquiring an additional 93,600 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 252,944 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $8,092,000 after purchasing an additional 48,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Divisar Capital Management LLC raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Divisar Capital Management LLC now owns 868,421 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,781,000 after purchasing an additional 261,824 shares during the last quarter.

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.