Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ANF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Raymond James started coverage on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $173.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ANF opened at $130.11 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.40. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12 month low of $95.51 and a 12 month high of $196.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 1.52.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total transaction of $1,292,471.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 97,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,697,070. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,800. This trade represents a 30.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,401 shares of company stock valued at $2,631,741 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $171,815,000 after purchasing an additional 63,157 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 25.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,017,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $142,379,000 after purchasing an additional 204,901 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 16.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 873,148 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $155,281,000 after purchasing an additional 120,509 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,143 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $121,733,000 after buying an additional 60,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 146.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 863,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $153,494,000 after buying an additional 512,700 shares during 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.