Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,530,000 shares, a decline of 20.3% from the November 15th total of 4,430,000 shares. Approximately 12.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 427,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Sportswear during the second quarter valued at $253,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 116.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 418 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 425,483 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,647,000 after purchasing an additional 15,375 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 23,150 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,831,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Columbia Sportswear by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,799 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. 47.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $70.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Sportswear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Columbia Sportswear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Columbia Sportswear Price Performance

Columbia Sportswear stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.74. The stock had a trading volume of 337,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 462,267. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.71. Columbia Sportswear has a 52 week low of $73.04 and a 52 week high of $91.24.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $931.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $937.17 million. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 6.42%. Columbia Sportswear’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Research analysts predict that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. Columbia Sportswear’s payout ratio is 33.15%.

Columbia Sportswear Company Profile

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and distributes outdoor, active, and everyday lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada. The company provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for hiking, trail running, snow, fishing, hunting, mountaineering, climbing, skiing and snowboarding, trail, and outdoor activities.