Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $772,000 Position in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $772,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Sportswear by 44.3% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 502 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Columbia Sportswear by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 451 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Columbia Sportswear by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,085 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,598,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Columbia Sportswear by 79.6% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC raised its position in Columbia Sportswear by 2.2% during the third quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 15,799 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.76% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Sportswear Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLM opened at $80.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.94. Columbia Sportswear has a 12 month low of $66.01 and a 12 month high of $88.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.99.

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The textile maker reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.36. Columbia Sportswear had a net margin of 7.20% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $769.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Columbia Sportswear’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Columbia Sportswear will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Sportswear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued 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 yield of 1.50%. Columbia Sportswear’s payout ratio is 29.27%.

Insider Activity at Columbia Sportswear

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.