Short Interest in CONMED Co. (NYSE:CNMD) Rises By 21.7%

CONMED Co. (NYSE:CNMD) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the February 28th total of 2,300,000 shares. Currently, 9.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 494,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on CNMD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CONMED from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on CONMED from $97.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on CONMED from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on CONMED from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.20.

Institutional Trading of CONMED

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNMD. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of CONMED by 93.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in CONMED during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CONMED by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in CONMED by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of CONMED in the fourth quarter worth about $210,000.

CONMED Stock Performance

NYSE:CNMD opened at $57.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. CONMED has a 12-month low of $55.22 and a 12-month high of $80.65.

CONMED (NYSE:CNMD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.14. CONMED had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 10.13%. Research analysts anticipate that CONMED will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CONMED Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. CONMED’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.87%.

About CONMED

CONMED Corporation, a medical technology company, develops, manufactures, and sells surgical devices and related equipment for surgical procedures worldwide. The company offers orthopedic surgery products, including BioBrace, TruShot with Y-Knot All-In-One Soft Tissue Fixation System, Y-knot All-Suture Anchors, and Agro Knotless Suture Anchors, which provide clinical solutions to orthopedic surgeons for the augmentation and repair of soft tissue injuries, as well as provides supporting products that enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive sports medicine surgeries.