Abercrombie & Fitch Downgraded, Shares Rise (ANF)

Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was downgraded on Monday to sell at Brean Murray with a price target of $29.

The firm believes investor optimism is too high after the shares rallied 16.1 percent in February versus a 2.9 percent increase in the S&P 500 and a 6.1 percent rise in the S&P Retailing Index.

Brean Murray believes domestic operations at Abercrombie continue to erode as the company is relying on heavy discounting to drive traffic. They also note that January comps were aided by a one-time gift card promotion that helped drive results.

Despite the downgrade, shares of Abercrombie are higher on the day by $0.31, or 0.85%, to $36.73.