Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Short Interest Down 17.3% in March

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,020,000 shares, a decline of 17.3% from the March 15th total of 3,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 809,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 11.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COLM. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Columbia Sportswear from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ COLM traded up $1.26 on Tuesday, reaching $64.34. The stock had a trading volume of 261,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 787,619. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. Columbia Sportswear has a 12-month low of $59.07 and a 12-month high of $92.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.73.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The textile maker reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.06). Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.01%.

Insider Activity at Columbia Sportswear

In other news, 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 owns 14,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,319,177.88. This trade represents a 21.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 6,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total value of $522,727.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,393,503.52. The trade was a 27.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 287.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 39,143 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,962,000 after buying an additional 29,035 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the first quarter worth approximately $715,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the 1st quarter valued at $1,097,000. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 40,288 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Columbia Sportswear by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,605 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.76% of the company’s stock.

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.