Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,720 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ANF. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 355.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 195,866 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $11,041,000 after purchasing an additional 152,907 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter valued at approximately $777,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 153,229 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $8,638,000 after buying an additional 43,310 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $598,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $782,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $58,127,767.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Kristin A. Scott sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.15, for a total transaction of $15,138,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,939.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fran Horowitz sold 400,000 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.61, for a total transaction of $44,244,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,127,767.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 558,786 shares of company stock worth $64,340,812. 3.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of ANF stock opened at $132.28 on Friday. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a 1-year low of $22.21 and a 1-year high of $140.28. The company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.74.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The apparel retailer reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.14. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 38.80%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ANF shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $103.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $98.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abercrombie & Fitch has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

About Abercrombie & Fitch

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.