Short Interest in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) Rises By 7.1%

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,780,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the November 30th total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 454,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.3 days. Approximately 13.5% of the company's shares are short sold.

Columbia Sportswear Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLM traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.67. The company had a trading volume of 439,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,655. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $84.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.04. Columbia Sportswear has a one year low of $73.04 and a one year high of $91.30.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.20. Columbia Sportswear had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 6.42%. The firm had revenue of $931.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $937.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Columbia Sportswear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Sportswear

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Columbia Sportswear by 51.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 419 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 705 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear during the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Sportswear in the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Sportswear in the 2nd quarter worth about $286,000. 47.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Columbia Sportswear from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Columbia Sportswear from $70.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Columbia Sportswear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

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.