Johnson Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ:JOUT) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Johnson Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ:JOUT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 326,600 shares, a drop of 8.3% from the October 15th total of 356,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 34,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David W. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.85, for a total transaction of $54,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,473,106.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 27.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Outdoors

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JOUT. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson Outdoors during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson Outdoors during the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson Outdoors by 305.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Johnson Outdoors by 36.8% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Johnson Outdoors by 1,017.0% in the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson Outdoors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday.

Johnson Outdoors Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of JOUT stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,999. The firm has a market capitalization of $536.18 million, a PE ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.35. Johnson Outdoors has a 12-month low of $47.00 and a 12-month high of $71.88.

Johnson Outdoors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 13th were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 12th. This is a positive change from Johnson Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Johnson Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.93%.

About Johnson Outdoors

Johnson Outdoors Inc designs, manufactures, and markets seasonal and outdoor recreational products for fishing worldwide. It operates through four segments: Fishing, Camping, Watercraft Recreation, and Diving. The Fishing segment offers electric motors for trolling, marine battery chargers, and shallow water anchors; sonar and GPS equipment for fish finding, navigation, and marine cartography; and downriggers for controlled-depth fishing.