Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $177.43.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $147.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $154.86 on Tuesday. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $72.98 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $143.13 and a 200 day moving average of $153.46. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 1.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.36. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 47.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total transaction of $2,501,225.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,676,109.60. This trade represents a 40.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Helen Mccluskey sold 3,500 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.38, for a total transaction of $487,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 37,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,222,568.60. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,541 shares of company stock valued at $4,310,256. Insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,445 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 115 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.