Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Now Covered by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $71.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 3.11% from the stock’s current price.

ANF has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $73.28 on Monday. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12-month low of $65.40 and a 12-month high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $85.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.83.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the third quarter worth about $548,000. Invst LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,757 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,835 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,338 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,762,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter.

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.