Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Short Interest Up 21.3% in March

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,900,000 shares, a growth of 21.3% from the March 15th total of 4,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 10.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANF traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.86. 482,997 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,981,224. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12-month low of $65.40 and a 12-month high of $196.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.21.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANF. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 valued at $221,910,000 after purchasing an additional 892,492 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the first quarter valued at $56,569,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth about $88,478,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 212,155 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth about $31,371,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANF has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James set a $110.00 target price on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $127.25.

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.