Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Short Interest Up 8.4% in November

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,510,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the October 31st total of 4,160,000 shares. Currently, 9.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.14.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ANF traded down $2.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $154.97. 1,614,143 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,754,712. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.02. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52-week low of $75.69 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.52.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total value of $2,501,225.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,676,109.60. This represents a 40.49 % 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 this link. Also, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 97,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,697,070. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,072 shares of company stock valued at $5,161,597. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 228.9% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 27,621 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 19,222 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 8.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 112,381 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,986,000 after buying an additional 9,061 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the first quarter valued at approximately $674,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 37.0% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 362,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $50,711,000 after acquiring an additional 97,893 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 123.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,883 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,026,000 after acquiring an additional 18,707 shares during the last quarter.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks brands.