Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $174.14.

ANF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $112.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

ANF stock opened at $177.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13 and a beta of 1.48. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 1 year low of $33.38 and a 1 year high of $196.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.69.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The apparel retailer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.48. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 44.83% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.37 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 9.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Abercrombie & Fitch

In related news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.48, for a total transaction of $1,588,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 115,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,375,498.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.48, for a total transaction of $1,588,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 115,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,375,498.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total value of $44,244,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 422,120 shares of company stock worth $48,119,693. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth about $1,125,000. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter valued at approximately $598,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $988,000. FCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $744,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 179.3% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 36,641 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 23,521 shares in the last quarter.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.