Short Interest in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Rises By 14.0%

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,180,000 shares, an increase of 14.0% from the August 31st total of 2,790,000 shares. Approximately 9.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 440,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Columbia Sportswear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $92.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Columbia Sportswear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.00.

Columbia Sportswear Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of COLM opened at $83.19 on Tuesday. Columbia Sportswear has a 12 month low of $66.01 and a 12 month high of $87.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.92.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The textile maker reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $570.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.37 million. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 6.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COLM. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,480,868 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $117,107,000 after acquiring an additional 454,738 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 153.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 616,110 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $48,722,000 after purchasing an additional 372,886 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the fourth quarter worth about $22,526,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Columbia Sportswear by 149.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 195,933 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $15,463,000 after buying an additional 117,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Columbia Sportswear by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 476,608 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $37,909,000 after buying an additional 105,193 shares during the period. 47.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.