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

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.09, Zacks reports. The business 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%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.97 EPS.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

Shares of ANF stock opened at $87.43 on Thursday. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $79.77 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $123.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.94.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ANF. UBS Group upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abercrombie & Fitch currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

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.