Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Shares Purchased by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) by 41.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,371 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,679 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Columbia Sportswear were worth $2,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the 4th quarter worth about $25,710,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 447.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 294,471 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $24,715,000 after purchasing an additional 240,709 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,293 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $22,770,000 after purchasing an additional 225,140 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 884,731 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $74,255,000 after buying an additional 134,813 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,207,605 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $101,355,000 after buying an additional 109,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.76% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Sportswear Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:COLM opened at $67.55 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.78 and a 200-day moving average of $82.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. Columbia Sportswear has a twelve month low of $59.07 and a twelve month high of $92.88.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The textile maker reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.06). Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 6.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Columbia Sportswear news, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 6,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $522,727.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,393,503.52. The trade was a 27.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richelle T. Luther sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.36, for a total value of $369,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,319,177.88. This trade represents a 21.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 44.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.80.

About Columbia Sportswear

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.