Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Stake Lifted by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 173,393 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 8,350 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.34% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $25,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,831 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,217,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,679 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 9,047 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ANF. UBS Group lowered their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $76.40 on Tuesday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1 year low of $73.39 and a 1 year high of $196.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $99.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Abercrombie & Fitch 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.