Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.80.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COLM. StockNews.com cut shares of Columbia Sportswear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Columbia Sportswear in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richelle T. Luther sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.36, for a total transaction of $369,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,283 shares in the company, valued at $1,319,177.88. This trade represents a 21.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald E. Nelson sold 6,395 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total value of $522,727.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,393,503.52. This represents a 27.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Sportswear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Columbia Sportswear in the 4th quarter valued at $25,710,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 447.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 294,471 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $24,715,000 after acquiring an additional 240,709 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,293 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $22,770,000 after buying an additional 225,140 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 884,731 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $74,255,000 after purchasing an additional 134,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,626,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.76% of the company's stock.

Columbia Sportswear Price Performance

COLM stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $65.52. 842,757 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 549,904. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $77.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. Columbia Sportswear has a 1-year low of $59.07 and a 1-year high of $92.88.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The textile maker reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.06). Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, research analysts predict that Columbia Sportswear will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Columbia Sportswear's payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

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.