Abercrombie & Fitch Company (NYSE:ANF) Shares Purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Company (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151,057 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.31% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $11,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 149,559 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $22,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,963 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the fourth quarter worth $2,784,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter worth about $1,551,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,700 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,048,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ANF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Abercrombie & Fitch from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.63.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 0.6%

ANF traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $79.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,324,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,174,733. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 1.47. Abercrombie & Fitch Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.40 and a fifty-two week high of $186.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.24. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 42.32% and a net margin of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.14 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Company will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.