StockNews.com Upgrades Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Columbia Sportswear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $84.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of COLM opened at $81.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.92. Columbia Sportswear has a 52-week low of $73.04 and a 52-week high of $87.23.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last issued 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. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 6.42%. The firm had revenue of $931.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $937.17 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Columbia Sportswear’s payout ratio is presently 33.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Duality Advisers LP boosted its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 225.2% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 40,244 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 27,868 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 1,964.4% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 10,322 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Columbia Sportswear by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,170,400 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $257,373,000 after buying an additional 21,104 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Columbia Sportswear in the 1st quarter worth about $3,806,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Columbia Sportswear during the 1st quarter worth about $604,000. 47.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.