Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Trading 5% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) traded up 5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $142.50 and last traded at $140.82. 516,400 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 1,703,780 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ANF shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Argus lowered shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $193.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.57.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $145.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 1.49.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.36. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 47.35% and a net margin of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,455 shares in the company, valued at $15,627,594. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 106,455 shares in the company, valued at $15,627,594. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Helen Mccluskey sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.38, for a total value of $487,830.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,222,568.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,541 shares of company stock valued at $4,310,256. Corporate insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANF. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 873,148 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $155,281,000 after buying an additional 120,509 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 146.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 863,100 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $153,494,000 after purchasing an additional 512,700 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 502,400 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $89,347,000 after purchasing an additional 76,900 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 460,613 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $81,915,000 after purchasing an additional 20,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 454,550 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $56,969,000 after buying an additional 141,788 shares during the period.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company Profile

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.