Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) Price Target to $170.00

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) had its price target reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $220.00 to $170.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 9.0 %

ANF opened at $87.43 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.45. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12 month low of $79.77 and a 12 month high of $196.99.

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

Abercrombie & Fitch declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.30 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 29.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANF. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 62.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,476 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,619 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 233.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 88,291 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $12,352,000 after purchasing an additional 61,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 1,718.5% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 8,929 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 8,438 shares during the period.

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.