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

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $32.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their previous price target of $42.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential downside of 13.11% from the stock’s current price.

URBN has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Urban Outfitters from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Urban Outfitters from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered Urban Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on 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, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Urban Outfitters from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Urban Outfitters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.67.

Urban Outfitters Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:URBN traded down $1.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,820,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,952. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.53. Urban Outfitters has a one year low of $25.52 and a one year high of $47.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.06.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The apparel retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Urban Outfitters will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Azeez Hayne sold 2,878 shares of Urban Outfitters stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.75, for a total value of $117,278.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,278.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Azeez Hayne sold 2,878 shares of Urban Outfitters stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.75, for a total value of $117,278.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,278.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Melanie Marein-Efron sold 6,000 shares of Urban Outfitters stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 908 shares in the company, valued at $36,973.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,473 shares of company stock worth $757,483 in the last ninety days. 31.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Urban Outfitters by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,133,038 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $336,328,000 after buying an additional 2,138,104 shares during the last quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Urban Outfitters by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 9,472,995 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $237,867,000 after acquiring an additional 420,001 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Urban Outfitters by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,672,586 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $273,835,000 after acquiring an additional 674,790 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Urban Outfitters by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,600,911 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $235,590,000 after acquiring an additional 125,147 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Urban Outfitters by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,920,947 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $80,969,000 after buying an additional 68,609 shares during the period. 77.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.