Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Columbia Sportswear's shares gapped down to $49.96 after Barclays lowered its price target from $62.00 to $51.00, where it last traded at $49.95 with significant volume.
• The company's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting a loss of ($0.19) EPS against a consensus estimate of ($0.28) and a revenue increase of 6.1% year-over-year.
• A dividend of $0.30 per share will be paid to stockholders on September 4th, reflecting a 2.4% yield and a payout ratio of 30.69%.

Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $61.00. The stock had previously closed at $56.57, but opened at $49.96. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Columbia Sportswear shares last traded at $49.95, with a volume of 256,161 shares trading hands.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Columbia Sportswear from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Columbia Sportswear in a report on Friday, May 30th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Columbia Sportswear from $75.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $62.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Sportswear has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.94, for a total transaction of $183,049.44. Following the sale, the director owned 128,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,460,695.46. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 48.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the first quarter worth $39,222,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,710,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,293 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $22,770,000 after purchasing an additional 225,140 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Columbia Sportswear during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $15,099,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Columbia Sportswear during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $10,834,000. Institutional investors own 47.76% of the company's stock.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $61.10 and its 200-day moving average is $70.47.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The textile maker reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.09. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 12.97% and a net margin of 6.59%. The company had revenue of $605.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $587.97 million. Columbia Sportswear's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Columbia Sportswear Company will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Columbia Sportswear's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.