Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,590,000 shares, a growth of 16.9% from the August 15th total of 4,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 9.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Urban Outfitters

In related news, Director Harry S. Cherken, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.30, for a total transaction of $241,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 565,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,303,796.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Tricia D. Smith sold 11,730 shares of Urban Outfitters stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $413,951.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Harry S. Cherken, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.30, for a total transaction of $241,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 565,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,303,796.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 31.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in URBN. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,230,771 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Urban Outfitters by 9.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Urban Outfitters during the first quarter worth about $27,233,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Urban Outfitters by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,039,540 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $37,101,000 after purchasing an additional 470,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Urban Outfitters in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Urban Outfitters from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Urban Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Urban Outfitters from $52.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.30.

Urban Outfitters Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ URBN opened at $36.03 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.50. Urban Outfitters has a 12-month low of $30.05 and a 12-month high of $48.90.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.24. Urban Outfitters had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Urban Outfitters will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About Urban Outfitters

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.