Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of ANF opened at $87.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.49. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52 week low of $79.77 and a 52 week high of $196.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ANF shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $220.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.30 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.