StockNews.com Downgrades Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) to Hold

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

ANF has been the subject of several other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of ANF stock opened at $78.16 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch has a twelve month low of $77.19 and a twelve month high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.94.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its 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. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after buying an additional 892,492 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,478,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the 3rd quarter worth $73,048,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,829,000 after buying an additional 212,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,371,000.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.