Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Short Interest Update

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,900,000 shares, an increase of 21.3% from the March 15th total of 4,040,000 shares. Currently, 10.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 55.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 728 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

NYSE:ANF traded down $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $73.79. 1,563,573 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,978,493. The company's 50 day moving average price is $83.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 1.41. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52-week low of $65.40 and a 52-week high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James set a $110.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $127.25.

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.