Analysts downwardly revised their ratings on Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN), Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (LL), and Oneok Partners LP (OKS)
Analysts are weighing in on specialty retailer Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), flooring firm Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL), and natural gas issue Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on URBN, LL, and OKS.
- Unlike its last turn in the earnings confessional, URBN is down 15.4% out of the gate to $34.45, after the firm's dismal first-quarter earnings report was met with swift backlash from the brokerage bunch. J.P. Morgan Securities, for example, downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "overweight," and cut its price target to $34 from $50. Elsewhere, Oppenheimer reduced URBN to "perform" from "outperform," and lowered its target price to $35 from $44. Today's price move just echoes the equity's recent technical struggles, with URBN off 27% from its March 20 all-time high of $47.25. Option traders have kept the faith, though, and at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Urban Outfitters, Inc.'s 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.09 ranks in the 72nd annual percentile.
- It's been a volatile few months for LL, with the shares down almost 50% from their Feb. 26 close at $50.63. This may be what prompted Cantor Fitzgerald to cut its rating to "hold" from "buy," and slash its price target by $16 to $26 -- sending the shares 2% lower today to $25.56, and on pace for their lowest settlement since April 2012. There's still plenty of room on LL's bearish bandwagon, though. For starters, the equity's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 1.17 rests higher than 89% of all similar readings taken in the past year. Plus, Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc's consensus 12-month price target of $33.17 stands at a 30% premium to current trading levels. A shift in sentiment among option traders and/or additional price-target cuts could translate into extended losses down the road. Meanwhile, LL could see some additional volatility in tomorrow's session, with the firm slated to host its annual shareholders meeting.
- Similar to Goldman Sachs yesterday, Deutsche Bank weighed in on a number of energy names this morning, and for OKS, this resulted in a "sell" initiation and a $38 price target -- a discount to the stock's current perch at $40.49. On the charts, the stock has been making a path lower in recent months -- off 32% from its Sept. 2 annual high of $59.67 -- thanks to pressure from its 120-day moving average. What's more, this trendline emerged as a stern layer of resistance during OKS' most recent rally attempts. In the options pits, short-term speculators are more call-heavy than usual, per Oneok Partners LP's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.39, which ranks in the 28th percentile of its annual range.