Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Stock Price

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Citigroup from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 60.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 3.5 %

ANF stock traded down $3.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $84.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 348,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,821,862. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $123.78 and its 200-day moving average is $137.94. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12 month low of $79.77 and a 12 month high of $196.99. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 1.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,212,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 8,221 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter valued at $399,000. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 4,017 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter worth $247,000.

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.