CONMED Co. (NYSE:CNMD) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

CONMED Co. (NYSE:CNMD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the February 28th total of 2,300,000 shares. Currently, 9.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 494,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CONMED

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNMD. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of CONMED by 93.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 726 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CONMED in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CONMED by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CONMED by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,962 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of CONMED during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $210,000.

CONMED Price Performance

CNMD stock traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $55.34. The company had a trading volume of 721,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,612. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.06. CONMED has a 1-year low of $52.64 and a 1-year high of $80.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.40.

CONMED (NYSE:CNMD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.14. CONMED had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 14.31%. Equities research analysts expect that CONMED will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

CONMED Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. CONMED's payout ratio is presently 18.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CNMD. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on CONMED from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CONMED from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of CONMED from $97.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of CONMED from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CONMED has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.20.

About CONMED

CONMED Corporation, a medical technology company, develops, manufactures, and sells surgical devices and related equipment for surgical procedures worldwide. The company offers orthopedic surgery products, including BioBrace, TruShot with Y-Knot All-In-One Soft Tissue Fixation System, Y-knot All-Suture Anchors, and Agro Knotless Suture Anchors, which provide clinical solutions to orthopedic surgeons for the augmentation and repair of soft tissue injuries, as well as provides supporting products that enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive sports medicine surgeries.