CONMED Co. (NYSE:CNMD) Short Interest Update

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

CONMED Stock Performance

NYSE CNMD traded up $1.47 on Wednesday, hitting $60.87. 99,609 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,342. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $63.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.76. CONMED has a fifty-two week low of $55.22 and a fifty-two week high of $80.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

CONMED (NYSE:CNMD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.14. CONMED had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 10.13%. On average, research analysts expect that CONMED will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

CONMED Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. CONMED’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CONMED

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNMD. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in CONMED by 93.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in CONMED during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CONMED by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of CONMED by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of CONMED during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000.

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.