Leuthold Group LLC Makes New $4.07 Million Investment in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Leuthold Group LLC bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 27,231 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,070,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ANF. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings 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 valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 997 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $459,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,024,800. This trade represents a 30.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $880,070.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,275,982.09. This represents a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock valued at $2,631,741 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of ANF stock opened at $100.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $132.14 and a 200-day moving average of $140.83. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a one year low of $99.51 and a one year high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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.