Short Interest in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Declines By 16.9%

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,040,000 shares, a decline of 16.9% from the February 28th total of 4,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 8.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ANF. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.88.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,212,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 8,221 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth $399,000. Invst LLC increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 4,017 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter valued at about $247,000.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ANF traded down $12.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.80. The stock had a trading volume of 3,108,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,899,071. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12 month low of $68.47 and a 12 month high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $97.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.28.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company 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.