Ethic Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Ethic Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 28.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,356 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 536 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ANF. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $221,910,000 after acquiring an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth $88,478,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 acquiring an additional 212,155 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth $31,371,000. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth $28,327,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ANF. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Thursday, March 6th. 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. Barclays assumed coverage on Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Monday, April 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $71.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.63.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 0.6%

Abercrombie & Fitch stock opened at $79.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.62. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 52 week low of $65.40 and a 52 week high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

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