Clearbridge Investments LLC Raises Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 250,908 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,826 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.50% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $37,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised 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 purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter worth $69,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of ANF opened at $78.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $98.72 and its 200 day moving average is $128.59. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a fifty-two week low of $73.39 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted 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. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.