Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $77.31 and last traded at $78.38, with a volume of 1460539 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ANF shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 9.1 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.45.

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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANF. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $860,303,000 after purchasing an additional 53,999 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $183,829,000 after acquiring an additional 212,155 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $171,815,000 after purchasing an additional 63,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,037,773 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $155,116,000 after purchasing an additional 115,758 shares during the last quarter.

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.