Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Now Covered by Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $71.00 price objective on the apparel retailer's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.25.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF traded down $1.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $71.62. 1,532,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,989,461. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.73. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52-week low of $65.40 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.41.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. Abercrombie & Fitch's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 233.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 89,494 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $7,049,000 after buying an additional 62,639 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 1st quarter valued at about $144,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 50.5% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 15,145 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 5,081 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 197.2% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,647 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deltec Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 1st quarter worth $2,345,000.

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.