Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Shares Up 5.9% - What's Next?

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 5.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $70.35 and last traded at $74.44. 1,080,354 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 1,906,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ANF. StockNews.com downgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup lowered 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 report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $136.25.

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Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $90.82 and its 200 day moving average is $125.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.41.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $221,910,000 after purchasing an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter worth approximately $88,478,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $183,829,000 after purchasing an additional 212,155 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,371,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter valued at $28,327,000.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company 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.