Columbus McKinnon Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Columbus McKinnon Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCO) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CMCO. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Columbus McKinnon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Columbus McKinnon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. DA Davidson set a $20.00 price target on Columbus McKinnon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Columbus McKinnon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Columbus McKinnon from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jon Adams sold 5,185 shares of Columbus McKinnon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.28, for a total transaction of $120,706.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,040.48. This trade represents a 35.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbus McKinnon

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Columbus McKinnon by 698.6% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 726,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,422,000 after buying an additional 635,770 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Columbus McKinnon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,040,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Columbus McKinnon by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,121,000 after purchasing an additional 481,470 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Columbus McKinnon by 100.2% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 829,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,900,000 after purchasing an additional 415,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbus McKinnon by 80.3% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 850,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,203,000 after purchasing an additional 379,096 shares during the period. 95.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Columbus McKinnon Stock Performance

CMCO stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.64. The company had a trading volume of 129,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,773. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market cap of $564.43 million, a PE ratio of 93.52 and a beta of 1.33. Columbus McKinnon has a 12 month low of $11.78 and a 12 month high of $24.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.73.

Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ:CMCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. Columbus McKinnon had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company had revenue of $258.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Columbus McKinnon’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Columbus McKinnon will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbus McKinnon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Columbus McKinnon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

About Columbus McKinnon

Columbus McKinnon Corporation is a global designer, manufacturer and marketer of material handling systems and solutions. The company’s product portfolio spans electric and manual hoists, motorized and manual chain and wire rope hoists, end-of-arm tooling, rigging hardware, trolleys and controls. Through its brands, Columbus McKinnon serves customers across a wide range of end markets including manufacturing, warehousing, construction, and energy, providing equipment for lifting, positioning and flow control applications.

With a focus on safety and productivity, Columbus McKinnon integrates advanced technologies such as automation controls, digital load monitoring and Internet-of-Things connectivity into its hoist and crane systems.