Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $18.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $28.14.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

NYSE:ANF opened at $25.96 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.36. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52 week low of $14.02 and a 52 week high of $38.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 432.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The apparel retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.05). Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 0.08% and a return on equity of 1.90%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, insider Kristin A. Scott sold 52,431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.87, for a total transaction of $1,461,251.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 101,248 shares in the company, valued at $2,821,781.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 1,051.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 3,078 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,580 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 1st quarter worth about $95,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 13.4% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,851 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

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Abercrombie & Fitch Co engages in the retail of apparel, personal care products, and accessories. It offers apparel products, including knit tops, woven shirts, graphic t-shirts, fleece, sweaters, jeans, woven pants, shorts, outerwear, dresses, intimates and swimwear, and personal care products and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister and Gilly Hicks brands.