UBS Group Upgrades Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) to Buy

by · The Markets Daily

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF – Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $220.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $173.00. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 45.10% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Friday, December 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. 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 MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.38.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 0.3 %

ANF stock opened at $151.62 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 1-year low of $93.91 and a 1-year high of $196.99. The stock has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.39 and its 200 day moving average is $150.37.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.18. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other news, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total transaction of $1,292,471.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,697,070. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $880,070.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,982.09. The trade was a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,401 shares of company stock valued at $2,631,741. Corporate insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $171,815,000 after buying an additional 63,157 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 25.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,017,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $142,379,000 after buying an additional 204,901 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 873,148 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $155,281,000 after buying an additional 120,509 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,143 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $121,733,000 after acquiring an additional 60,022 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 146.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 863,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $153,494,000 after acquiring an additional 512,700 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Abercrombie & Fitch Co, through its subsidiaries, operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks brands.

Further Reading