Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Stock Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 520,702 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 37,752 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $77,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Four investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF opened at $70.68 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $80.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.41. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12-month low of $65.40 and a 12-month high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.