Empowered Funds LLC Reduces Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,185 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 16,320 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $8,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 101.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,352,169 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $119,288,000 after purchasing an additional 681,375 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth $37,632,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 171.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 664,074 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $37,434,000 after purchasing an additional 419,781 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth $32,897,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,191,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $348,992,000 after purchasing an additional 146,384 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ANF. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $144.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total value of $44,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,127,767.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director James A. Goldman sold 4,120 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.48, for a total value of $727,097.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,335,071.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total value of $44,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,127,767.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 422,120 shares of company stock worth $48,119,693. Company insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of ANF traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.24. 1,210,762 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,219,973. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1-year low of $33.38 and a 1-year high of $196.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $165.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.92.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The apparel retailer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.48. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 9.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks brands.