Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Receives $178.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $186.00.

ANF has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $167.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Argus downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF opened at $165.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12-month low of $47.13 and a 12-month high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.37 million. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 44.83%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.48, for a total value of $1,588,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 115,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,375,498.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Nigel Travis sold 7,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.66, for a total value of $1,337,182.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,855 shares in the company, valued at $3,448,019.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.48, for a total transaction of $1,588,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 115,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,375,498.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,120 shares of company stock valued at $3,875,693. Insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 16.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 873,148 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $155,281,000 after buying an additional 120,509 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 146.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 863,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $153,494,000 after purchasing an additional 512,700 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 502,400 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $89,347,000 after purchasing an additional 76,900 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 460,613 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $81,915,000 after purchasing an additional 20,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 45.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 454,550 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $56,969,000 after purchasing an additional 141,788 shares during the last quarter.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.