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

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 440,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.2 days. Approximately 9.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 44.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,480,868 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $117,107,000 after acquiring an additional 454,738 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 153.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Columbia Sportswear in the 4th quarter valued at $22,526,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $15,463,000 after purchasing an additional 117,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 476,608 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $37,909,000 after purchasing an additional 105,193 shares during the last quarter. 47.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Columbia Sportswear Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of COLM stock 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $80.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.92.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The textile maker reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $570.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $569.37 million. Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.