Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Short Interest Update

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,320,000 shares, a growth of 26.2% from the March 31st total of 2,630,000 shares. Currently, 9.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 526,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Sportswear

In related news, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 5,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.05, for a total value of $473,264.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,857 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,116.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.98, for a total transaction of $195,242.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,950,741.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 5,768 shares of Columbia Sportswear stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.05, for a total transaction of $473,264.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,116.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 43.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COLM. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,352,622 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $322,530,000 after acquiring an additional 366,854 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 13.4% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,469,768 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $108,910,000 after purchasing an additional 173,291 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Columbia Sportswear by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,294,410 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $102,957,000 after purchasing an additional 305,592 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,128,258 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $89,745,000 after buying an additional 104,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 515,735 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $41,022,000 after buying an additional 18,001 shares in the last quarter. 47.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Sportswear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.60.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COLM traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $80.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,713,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,881. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.04. Columbia Sportswear has a 12-month low of $66.01 and a 12-month high of $88.17.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.36. Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 7.20% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $769.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.27%.

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.