North Growth Management Ltd. Raises Holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch Company (NYSE:ANF)

North Growth Management Ltd. increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch Company (NYSE:ANF - Free Report) by 32.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 106,000 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Abercrombie & Fitch makes up about 1.7% of North Growth Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. North Growth Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.22% of Abercrombie & Fitch worth $8,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 161.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

Shares of ANF stock traded up $2.90 on Tuesday, hitting $79.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,778,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,577. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.60 and a 200 day moving average of $99.21. Abercrombie & Fitch Company has a 12-month low of $65.40 and a 12-month high of $186.45.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 42.32%. Abercrombie & Fitch's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Company will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to buy up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ANF has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Abercrombie & Fitch from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.63.

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.