Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Receives $140.88 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.88.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ANF. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $83.19 on Monday. Abercrombie & Fitch has a one year low of $73.39 and a one year high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.28.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $860,303,000 after buying an additional 53,999 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after acquiring an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,829,000 after purchasing an additional 212,155 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during 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. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,037,773 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $155,116,000 after purchasing an additional 115,758 shares during the period.

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.