Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Columbia Sportswear from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $92.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Sportswear currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $77.00.

Columbia Sportswear Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLM opened at $83.19 on Friday. Columbia Sportswear has a 1-year low of $66.01 and a 1-year high of $87.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.14. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $570.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.37 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Columbia Sportswear’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Columbia Sportswear in the second quarter worth about $1,890,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $286,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 149.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 195,933 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $15,463,000 after purchasing an additional 117,260 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Columbia Sportswear by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 125,674 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $9,938,000 after purchasing an additional 4,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 1,574.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 80,383 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,357,000 after purchasing an additional 75,582 shares in the last quarter. 47.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.