Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Urban Outfitters shares reached a new 52-week high of $92.40, with the stock last trading near $91.02 and a market capitalization of approximately $7.68 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with nine Buy ratings and eight Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $90.54 target price.
• The company recently matched quarterly earnings expectations at $1.72 per share, while revenue rose 10.4% year over year to $1.66 billion; however, insiders sold 14,200 shares over the past 90 days.

Shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $92.40 and last traded at $91.0150, with a volume of 132 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Urban Outfitters from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Urban Outfitters in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Urban Outfitters in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Urban Outfitters has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Urban Outfitters Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.24. The business's fifty day moving average price is $79.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.88.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The apparel retailer reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Urban Outfitters had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Urban Outfitters, Inc. will post 6.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Urban Outfitters

In related news, CFO Melanie Marein-Efron sold 5,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.75, for a total transaction of $460,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 11,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at $914,332.25. This trade represents a 33.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Harry S. Cherken, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.06, for a total transaction of $435,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 494,315 shares in the company, valued at $43,035,063.90. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 14,200 shares of company stock valued at $1,161,400 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 32.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Urban Outfitters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Urban Outfitters during the second quarter worth about $615,160,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Urban Outfitters by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,938 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $273,274,000 after buying an additional 338,622 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Urban Outfitters by 23.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 981,130 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $62,155,000 after purchasing an additional 189,454 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Urban Outfitters during the second quarter valued at $33,414,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in Urban Outfitters by 211.4% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 428,227 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $30,344,000 after buying an additional 290,698 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.61% of the company's stock.

About Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters, Inc is a lifestyle retail company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands focused on apparel, accessories, home furnishings, beauty products and related merchandise. Its principal brands include Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and Nuuly. The company serves customers through retail stores, brand websites, mobile applications and other digital channels.

Urban Outfitters offers fashion-oriented products for women and men, while Anthropologie emphasizes women's apparel, accessories, home goods and lifestyle merchandise.

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