Short Interest in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Declines By 20.3%

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) saw a significant decline in short interest in 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. Based on an average trading volume of 427,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.2 days. Approximately 12.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of COLM stock opened at $88.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.94. Columbia Sportswear has a twelve month low of $73.04 and a twelve month high of $91.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.69.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $931.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $937.17 million. Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 6.42% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on COLM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Columbia Sportswear from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Columbia Sportswear from $70.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Columbia Sportswear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COLM. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 79.2% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 90,515 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $7,530,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Sportswear in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,676,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 44.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,480,868 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $117,107,000 after buying an additional 454,738 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $499,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 113.7% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 36,481 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,034,000 after acquiring an additional 19,413 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.76% of the company’s stock.

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.