Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

ANF has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Friday, December 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ANF stock traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $154.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,540,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,721,162. Abercrombie & Fitch has a twelve month low of $86.91 and a twelve month high of $196.99. The stock has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $146.19 and a 200-day moving average of $153.28.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total transaction of $1,292,471.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 97,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,697,070. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Coulter sold 2,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $459,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,405 shares in the company, valued at $1,024,800. This represents a 30.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANF. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the third quarter worth $211,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the third quarter worth about $8,685,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,338 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,762,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 47.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,757 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,835 shares during the period. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 22.8% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter.

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.