Citigroup downgraded the equity to "neutral"
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) is down 2.1% to trade at $35.64 before the bell, following a bear note from Citigroup. The Wall Street firm downgraded the apparel retailer to "neutral" from "buy," noting that despite expectations of an earnings beat next week, the risk/reward profile is more balanced right now.
Coming into today, covering brokerages were split on URBN. Specifically, six of 12 rated the stock a "buy" or better, while six said "hold" or worse. Short interest is down 19.3% in the last two reporting periods, yet the 4.41 million shares sold show still make up 6.6% of the security's available float.
The options pits are much more bullish. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.03 ranks higher than 95% of readings from the past 12 months.
Ahead of today's bear note, Urban Outfitters stock was 52.7% higher year-to-date. The security hit its highest level since November 2021 last week, thanks to guidance from its ascending 30-day moving average, but today's negative price action threatens to place URBN just shy of this trendline.