Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,780,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the November 30th total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 454,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.3 days. Currently, 13.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Down 0.1 %

COLM traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $83.81. 52,621 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 463,655. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.94. Columbia Sportswear has a one year low of $73.04 and a one year high of $91.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.04.

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

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio is 33.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COLM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 425,483 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,647,000 after acquiring an additional 15,375 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 13.9% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,799 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 2.6% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 86,125 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,811,000 after buying an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 8.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 140,696 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $11,126,000 after buying an additional 10,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 10.1% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 33,228 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,628,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COLM. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $70.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Sportswear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

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.