Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Short Interest Up 8.4% in November

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) saw a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,510,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the October 31st total of 4,160,000 shares. Currently, 9.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.14.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF traded up $3.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.45. 726,189 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,395. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $75.69 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.52.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total value of $2,501,225.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,676,109.60. This trade represents a 40.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Helen Mccluskey sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.38, for a total value of $487,830.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 37,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,222,568.60. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,072 shares of company stock valued at $5,161,597 over the last quarter. 2.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings 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 boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,445 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

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.