Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,040,000 shares, a decline of 16.9% from the February 28th total of 4,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 8.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on ANF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock traded up $4.42 on Wednesday, reaching $83.19. 3,132,916 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,893,326. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52 week low of $73.39 and a 52 week high of $196.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.59. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23 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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after buying an additional 892,492 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,478,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,829,000 after purchasing an additional 212,155 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,371,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,327,000.

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.