Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Short Interest Update

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,790,000 shares, a growth of 10.4% from the November 30th total of 4,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 9.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ANF shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $147.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.50.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Performance

ANF stock traded down $5.18 on Wednesday, hitting $149.47. 1,704,934 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,714,916. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.32. The stock has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.52. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 12-month low of $86.91 and a 12-month high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 46.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abercrombie & Fitch

In related news, EVP Samir Desai sold 5,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $880,070.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,275,982.09. The trade was a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott D. Lipesky sold 8,605 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.20, for a total value of $1,292,471.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,697,070. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,401 shares of company stock valued at $2,631,741 in the last quarter. 2.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 6.5% in the third 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 period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,445 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 5.4% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,564 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% during the 3rd 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.

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.