Short Interest in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Decreases By 17.5%

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) saw a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, a decrease of 17.5% from the August 15th total of 3,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 450,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Approximately 8.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Columbia Sportswear Price Performance

COLM stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.75. 92,126 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 466,562. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $80.33 and its 200 day moving average is $80.31. Columbia Sportswear has a 12-month low of $66.01 and a 12-month high of $87.23.

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

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Columbia Sportswear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Sportswear by 116.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 418 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 11,725.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Columbia Sportswear by 174.8% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 599 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the first quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Dnca Finance bought a new stake in Columbia Sportswear in the second quarter valued at about $68,000. 47.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on COLM. StockNews.com lowered Columbia Sportswear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Columbia Sportswear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $84.00 to $92.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Columbia Sportswear has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

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.