Norges Bank Invests $88.48 Million in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 591,946 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $88,478,000. Norges Bank owned 1.18% of Abercrombie & Fitch at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 91.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 105.0% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 58,463 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $8,179,000 after buying an additional 29,946 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 42.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,466 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,164,000 after buying an additional 4,577 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,744,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,478 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ANF. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 report on Sunday, March 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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 target on Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

NYSE ANF opened at $83.19 on Thursday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52 week low of $73.39 and a 52 week high of $196.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $97.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board 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.