Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on COLM. StockNews.com lowered shares of Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of Columbia Sportswear stock traded down $3.51 on Monday, reaching $62.01. 235,091 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 548,938. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Columbia Sportswear’s payout ratio is 31.01%.

Insider Activity at Columbia Sportswear

In related news, EVP Richelle T. Luther sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.36, for a total transaction of $369,440.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 6,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $522,727.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,393,503.52. This represents a 27.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Sportswear

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 184.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in Columbia Sportswear by 12,400.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 625 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 600 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 915 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 47.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.