Short Interest in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) Rises By 8.4%

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,510,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the October 31st total of 4,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,830,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 9.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Abercrombie & Fitch

In other Abercrombie & Fitch news, EVP Samir Desai sold 19,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total value of $2,501,225.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,676,109.60. The trade was a 40.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Helen Mccluskey sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.38, for a total value of $487,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,222,568.60. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,072 shares of company stock worth $5,161,597 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abercrombie & Fitch

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Abercrombie & Fitch by 604.4% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 317 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Abercrombie & Fitch by 156.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Abercrombie & Fitch by 242.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 531 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter.

Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch stock traded up $2.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $156.97. 632,964 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,697,967. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $144.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.13. Abercrombie & Fitch has a fifty-two week low of $75.69 and a fifty-two week high of $196.99.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.18. Abercrombie & Fitch had a return on equity of 46.50% and a net margin of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Abercrombie & Fitch will post 10.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Abercrombie & Fitch from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup raised shares of Abercrombie & Fitch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Abercrombie & Fitch in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.14.

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.