Columbus McKinnon Co. (NASDAQ:CMCO – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 350,000 shares, a drop of 9.4% from the January 15th total of 386,500 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 126,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Columbus McKinnon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Columbus McKinnon by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 408,624 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,268,000 after purchasing an additional 60,717 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in Columbus McKinnon by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 710,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $23,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,958 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its position in Columbus McKinnon by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 145,166 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,714,000 after purchasing an additional 11,344 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Columbus McKinnon by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,382 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Columbus McKinnon by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 108,909 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,536,000 after acquiring an additional 18,129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.01% of the company's stock.

Columbus McKinnon Trading Up 2.4 %

CMCO stock opened at $38.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Columbus McKinnon has a 12-month low of $23.54 and a 12-month high of $47.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50-day moving average is $34.58 and its 200 day moving average is $31.47.

Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ:CMCO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.12. Columbus McKinnon had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 4.95%. The company had revenue of $230.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $228.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Columbus McKinnon's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbus McKinnon will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbus McKinnon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 9th. Columbus McKinnon's payout ratio is presently 17.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Columbus McKinnon from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

Columbus McKinnon Company Profile

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Columbus McKinnon Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of material handling products and systems. Its products include hoists, chain and rigging tools, digital power control and delivery systems, actuators and rotary unions, industrial cranes, and elevator application drive systems which are distributed through STAHL, Herc-Alloy, Magnetek, Duff-Norton, Pfaff, and other brands.

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