Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Short Interest Up 10.0% in April

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,830,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the March 31st total of 4,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 9.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $81.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $98.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.71.

Abercrombie & Fitch Price Performance

NYSE ANF opened at $120.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $123.35 and its 200 day moving average is $99.07. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $21.74 and a fifty-two week high of $140.28.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The apparel retailer reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.14. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 38.80% and a net margin of 7.67%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Abercrombie & Fitch’s quarterly revenue was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total value of $44,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, CFO Scott D. Lipesky sold 35,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.95, for a total value of $4,478,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,330,996.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total value of $44,244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 558,786 shares of company stock valued at $64,340,812. Corporate insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,435 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 51.4% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,587 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 36.7% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 11,280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter.

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.