Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight Rating, $56 PT on Abercrombie & Fitch Following FQ4 Report

In a report published Friday, Piper Jaffray reiterated its Overweight rating and $56.00 price target on Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

. Piper Jaffray noted, “We are maintaining our Overweight rating on ANF shares following the company's FQ4 report. Q4 sales were just slightly below and comparable EPS was inline. A change in inventory accounting method from retail to cost created noise in the release / gross margin, but on balance we view the quarter as an incremental step in a multi-quarter recovery. Shares may be volatile today and for investors with longer-term time horizons who can see into international recovery opportunities, we'd recommend adding to positions. As expected, the outlook for FY14 was conservative at $3.35-$3.45, below our $3.50 and the consensus estimate of $3.60 (which were on retail accounting method; would have been 15-20 cents higher on cost method). We believe incremental value exists if the domestic business remains at least stable and the international business starts to rebound, especially if augmented with strategic cost reductions.” Abercrombie & Fitch Co. closed on Thursday at $49.05.