Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,320,000 shares, an increase of 9.6% from the September 15th total of 3,940,000 shares. Approximately 8.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,627,594. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,627,594. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $139.38, for a total transaction of $487,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,222,568.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,541 shares of company stock worth $4,310,256. 3.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 3.6% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 4.5% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,492 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 156.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $155.00 to $147.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.71.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

NYSE ANF traded up $3.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $166.91. 106,797 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,700,706. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $146.41 and its 200-day moving average is $148.80. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52-week low of $57.78 and a 52-week high of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.