Columbus McKinnon Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts assigned Columbus McKinnon a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from five firms (1 sell, 1 hold, 1 buy, 2 strong buys), with an average 12‑month price target of $23.50.
• Shares opened at $15.38, trading well below the 12‑month high of $24.40; the company has a market cap of about $442M and a high P/E (~73.2), indicating elevated valuation expectations versus current price.
• Columbus McKinnon slightly beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.62 vs. $0.61; revenue $258.7M, +10.5% YoY), announced a quarterly dividend of $0.07 (1.8% yield) but with a 133% payout ratio, while insiders sold shares and institutional/hedge funds have been increasing positions.

Columbus McKinnon Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

CMCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Columbus McKinnon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Columbus McKinnon in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. DA Davidson set a $20.00 price objective on Columbus McKinnon in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Columbus McKinnon from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Columbus McKinnon from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th.

Columbus McKinnon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCO opened at $15.38 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $442.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.24 and a beta of 1.39. Columbus McKinnon has a 12-month low of $13.31 and a 12-month high of $24.40.

Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ:CMCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $258.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.60 million. Columbus McKinnon had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 0.60%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Columbus McKinnon will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Columbus McKinnon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. Columbus McKinnon's payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Columbus McKinnon news, insider Jon Adams sold 5,185 shares of Columbus McKinnon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.28, for a total value of $120,706.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $218,040.48. The trade was a 35.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbus McKinnon

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCO. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Columbus McKinnon by 698.6% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 726,772 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,422,000 after acquiring an additional 635,770 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Columbus McKinnon by 76.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108,462 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,121,000 after acquiring an additional 481,470 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Columbus McKinnon by 100.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 829,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,900,000 after acquiring an additional 415,275 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Columbus McKinnon by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 850,951 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,203,000 after acquiring an additional 379,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Columbus McKinnon in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,395,000. 95.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Columbus McKinnon

Columbus McKinnon Corporation is a global designer, manufacturer and marketer of material handling systems and solutions. The company's product portfolio spans electric and manual hoists, motorized and manual chain and wire rope hoists, end-of-arm tooling, rigging hardware, trolleys and controls. Through its brands, Columbus McKinnon serves customers across a wide range of end markets including manufacturing, warehousing, construction, and energy, providing equipment for lifting, positioning and flow control applications.

With a focus on safety and productivity, Columbus McKinnon integrates advanced technologies such as automation controls, digital load monitoring and Internet-of-Things connectivity into its hoist and crane systems.

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