Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Shares Purchased by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 152.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 703 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 9,047 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF opened at $79.71 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $113.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.63. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 12-month low of $74.31 and a 12-month high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. Raymond James set a $110.00 price target on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $210.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.88.

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.