Urban Outfitters Plunges after CEO Quits

Shares of Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:  URBN) are tumbling more than 18% in morning trade after the company’s CEO Glen Senk resigned abruptly. Mr. Senk, 55,  who joined the Company in 1994 as President of its Anthropologie brand, became a director in 2004 and Chief Executive Officer in 2007.

Mr. Senk indicated that he plans to pursue another opportunity, but that he will remain with the Company for a period of time to assist management with the transition. He has also resigned from the Board of Directors. He will be succeeded by Richard A. Hayne, Chairman of the Board and President, effective immediately.

“Glen joined the company nearly 18 years ago when the Anthropologie business was a single-store prototype. We are forever grateful for his passion, creativity and leadership in building the Anthropologie brand to what it is today. We are also thankful for his countless contributions having served as the URBN CEO since 2007,” said Mr. Hayne. “We wish Glen all the best in his future endeavors.”

The news did not go well with analysts who responded with a series of downgrades on the stock. “Say what you will about Glen Senk’s tenure as CEO of Urban, his abrupt departure puts a major dent in our near-term confidence that a turn is indeed at hand,” Citi analyst Jeff Black wrote in a client note, cutting his price target on the stock to $20 from $34. On new CEO Richard Hayne, the company’s chairman and co-founder, Black wrote, “He’s been a guiding presence at the company these last years but we don’t view him as having had a strong hand in day-to-day management.”

“The news is shocking and disappointing,” Anna Andreeva, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets in New York, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “Obviously, the company has been somewhat challenged under his leadership in the last year, but this challenges the recovery.” “The company is in good hands with Richard Hayne,” Andreeva said. “But Glen Senk is seen as the driving force with inventory management, so this news is disappointing.”

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.