Bridgewater Associates LP Grows Stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 118.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 274,143 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,593 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.54% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $40,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 4.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 3rd quarter worth about $548,000. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 214.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 12,971 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $171,815,000 after buying an additional 63,157 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 16.2% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,639 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $72.90 on Tuesday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52-week low of $65.40 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.62. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.41.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ANF. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James set a $110.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.29.

Abercrombie & Fitch Profile

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.