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

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,280,000 shares, a growth of 35.3% from the February 28th total of 6,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 14.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Urban Outfitters Trading Up 1.3 %

Urban Outfitters stock opened at $53.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.97. Urban Outfitters has a 12-month low of $33.86 and a 12-month high of $61.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.56.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel retailer reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.15. Urban Outfitters had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Urban Outfitters will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Urban Outfitters from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $41.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Urban Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on Urban Outfitters from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Urban Outfitters from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Tricia D. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.94, for a total transaction of $539,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $679,697.94. This represents a 44.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Azeez Hayne sold 11,676 shares of Urban Outfitters stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $639,261.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 99,976 shares of company stock valued at $5,573,263. Company insiders own 31.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Urban Outfitters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in URBN. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 525 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Urban Outfitters by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 759 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Urban Outfitters by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,434 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Urban Outfitters by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,222 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.