Abercrombie’s August Sales Fall Worse-than-Expected 29%

By Dividend.com Staff

September 3rd, 2009

abercrombie and fitch-august-sales-fall-worse-than-expected-29-anf

Clothing retailer abercrombie and fitch Co. (ANF) said Thursday that its same-store sales in August fell a whopping 29%, which was worse than analysts had expected.

On average, Wall Street analysts had expected a smaller 23.9% same-store sales decline. Same-store sales are a key indicator of a retailer’s health, since they measure the performance of stores open at least one year.

The company said that total net sales in August fell 23% from last year to $313.9 million.

abercrombie and fitch shares fell $1.47, or -4.7%, in morning trading Thursday.

The Bottom Line

We have been avoiding shares of ANF since our early June coverage began, and the stock was trading at $67.37. The company has a dividend yield of 2.18%, based on last night’s closing stock price of $32.09. The stock has technical support in the $25-$27 price area. If the shares can continue the recent run, we see overhead resistance around the $36 price level. We would remain on the sidelines for now.

abercrombie and fitch Co. (ANF) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS? Rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.