Citigroup Upgrades Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) to Buy

Citigroup upgraded shares of Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $59.00 price objective on the apparel retailer’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $42.00.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on URBN. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Urban Outfitters from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Urban Outfitters from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com cut Urban Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Urban Outfitters from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Urban Outfitters from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.27.

Urban Outfitters Price Performance

URBN opened at $48.73 on Wednesday. Urban Outfitters has a 1-year low of $33.86 and a 1-year high of $49.48. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.21.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.28. Urban Outfitters had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 6.11%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Urban Outfitters will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Urban Outfitters

In other news, CEO Tricia D. Smith sold 11,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $413,951.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 31.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Urban Outfitters

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Urban Outfitters by 116.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,288,817 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230,771 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Urban Outfitters by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,555,067 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $63,836,000 after purchasing an additional 264,708 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Urban Outfitters in the third quarter worth $8,340,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Urban Outfitters during the third quarter worth $7,789,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Urban Outfitters during the second quarter valued at about $7,685,000. 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 Nuuly. 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.