Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Underperform

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) was downgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $32.00 price objective on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $42.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 13.11% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on URBN. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Urban Outfitters from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Urban Outfitters from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Urban Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.67.

Urban Outfitters Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of Urban Outfitters stock traded down $1.19 on Wednesday, hitting $36.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,820,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,952. Urban Outfitters has a 52-week low of $25.52 and a 52-week high of $47.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.53.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The apparel retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Urban Outfitters had a net margin of 5.58% and a return on equity of 15.32%. Urban Outfitters’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Urban Outfitters will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Tricia D. Smith sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.74, for a total transaction of $254,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,821.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Urban Outfitters news, CFO Melanie Marein-Efron sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.72, for a total value of $244,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,973.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Tricia D. Smith sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.74, for a total transaction of $254,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,821.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,473 shares of company stock valued at $757,483. 31.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Urban Outfitters

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Urban Outfitters by 0.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 42,714 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Urban Outfitters by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 5,274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Urban Outfitters by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Urban Outfitters by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Urban Outfitters by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.61% of the company’s stock.

Urban Outfitters Company Profile

Urban Outfitters, Inc engages in the retail and wholesale of general consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Nully. It operates Urban Outfitters stores, which offer women's and men's fashion apparel, activewear, intimates, footwear, accessories, home goods, electronics, and beauty products for young adults aged 18 to 28; and Anthropologie stores that provide women's apparel, accessories, intimates, shoes, and home furnishings, as well as gifts, decorative items, and beauty and wellness products for women aged 28 to 45.