Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $99.12 and last traded at $102.17, with a volume of 2793991 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 2.7 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.39 and a 200-day moving average of $140.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 1.49.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.18. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $880,070.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,982.09. This trade represents a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total transaction of $1,292,471.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 97,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,697,070. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock worth $2,631,741 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after purchasing an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at about $88,478,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter valued at about $73,048,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,829,000 after buying an additional 212,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth about $31,371,000.

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.