Guggenheim Capital LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,313 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,747 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $860,303,000 after buying an additional 53,999 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after acquiring an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,829,000 after purchasing an additional 212,155 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 701,798 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $104,898,000 after purchasing an additional 131,970 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 680,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $101,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,493 shares in the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 2.9 %

Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $74.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.99. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12-month low of $65.40 and a 12-month high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ANF. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped 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. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $71.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.25.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.