Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,320,000 shares, an increase of 26.2% from the March 31st total of 2,630,000 shares. Approximately 9.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 526,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COLM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Columbia Sportswear from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Columbia Sportswear from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Columbia Sportswear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Sportswear currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ COLM traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,713,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,881. The company's fifty day moving average price is $78.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.09. Columbia Sportswear has a 12 month low of $66.01 and a 12 month high of $88.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.94.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.36. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 7.20%. The firm had revenue of $769.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The business's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Columbia Sportswear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 5,768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.05, for a total transaction of $473,264.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,116.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 5,768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.05, for a total transaction of $473,264.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,116.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen E. Babson sold 2,411 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.98, for a total value of $195,242.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 122,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,950,741.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 43.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,982,000. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 57,191 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $4,238,000 after purchasing an additional 23,055 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 107.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 90,642 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $6,718,000 after purchasing an additional 46,972 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,352,622 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $322,530,000 after purchasing an additional 366,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,264,000. Institutional investors own 47.76% of the company's stock.

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.