Analyst Downgrades: Urban Outfitters, Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, and First Solar, Inc.

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE), and First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Josh Selway

Nov 23, 2016 at 9:11 AM

Analysts are weighing in on retailer Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), tech stock Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE), and solar energy specialist First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on URBN, HPE, and FSLR.

URBN is set to lose 10.5% when the market opens, due to the retailer's disappointing third-quarter results. Wunderlich was one of at least three brokerage firms to cut its price target, moving it down to $32 from $40, while also downgrading the stock to "hold" from "buy." Shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. had been performing well in 2016 -- picking up 71.5% year-to-date to close Tuesday at $39.01, and touching an annual high of $40.80 last week. Additional post-earnings downgrades could spark more losses for the stock, though, since nine brokerage firms consider it a "strong buy," and 13 others sit on the fence with a "hold" rating.

HPE is down 2% in electronic trading, after the company's current-quarter outlook missed expectations, although its fiscal fourth-quarter profit beat. While a number of analysts actually raised their price targets on the stock, Raymond James and Jefferies cut their respective price targets to $28 and $27. Still, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co remains well above its January lows below $12 -- closing Monday at $22.87 -- and could find a foothold today atop its historically supportive 80-day moving average. Near-term options traders, on the other hand, are unusually put-skewed. This is according to HPE's Schaeffer's put/call volume ratio (SOIR) of 1.17, which ranks above 96% of comparable readings from the past year. If the stock is able to shrug off the post-earnings dip, an unwinding of these positions could support the shares going forward.

FSLR got hit with a downgrade to "neutral" from "outperform" at Macquarie, which also slashed its price target to $32.75 from $57.33. The shares could now be in danger of adding to their significant year-to-date losses, as they were last seen trading lower ahead of the bell, after closing last night at $29.66 -- just above their Nov. 17 three-year low at $28.60. Despite this dismal technical performance, options traders have remained bullish. First Solar, Inc.'s 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) comes in at 1.85, ranking in the 68th percentile of its annual range.

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