Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Stock Price

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) had its price target decreased by Citigroup from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 56.68% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ANF. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James cut their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. UBS Group upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.75.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $86.16 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $122.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.56. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.45. Abercrombie & Fitch has a one year low of $79.77 and a one year high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,818 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,318,000 after acquiring an additional 4,108 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 24,669 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 228.9% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 27,621 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 19,222 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 158,554 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $23,699,000 after purchasing an additional 4,837 shares in the last quarter.

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.