Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,539 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $529,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 960.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,493 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,258 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,709 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,768 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 7.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,143 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $121,733,000 after purchasing an additional 60,022 shares in the last quarter.

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Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

ANF traded up $2.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $77.97. The stock had a trading volume of 897,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,418,132. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $102.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 1.45. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1-year low of $74.31 and a 1-year high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ANF. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.88.

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.