Abercrombie & Fitch Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ANF)

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 23,803 put options on the company. This is an increase of 96% compared to the average daily volume of 12,120 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANF. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 92.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 415 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in Abercrombie & Fitch during the 4th quarter worth $69,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $135.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $190.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $149.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered Abercrombie & Fitch from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. Finally, Raymond James set a $110.00 price target on Abercrombie & Fitch in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.29.

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ANF traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.61. The stock had a trading volume of 903,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,570. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.41. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $65.40 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abercrombie & Fitch announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.30 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 29.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.