Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $65.57 and last traded at $68.03, with a volume of 323970 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $189.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target 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, March 5th. Three investment 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.88.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Down 2.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.34.

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

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

Institutional Trading of Abercrombie & Fitch

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,755,692 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $860,303,000 after acquiring an additional 53,999 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 150.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,484,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,910,000 after purchasing an additional 892,492 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,229,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,829,000 after purchasing an additional 212,155 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,221,890 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $171,815,000 after buying an additional 63,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,037,773 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $155,116,000 after buying an additional 115,758 shares during the period.

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.