Columbia Sportswear (COLM) versus Its Peers Critical Review

Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) is one of 37 publicly-traded companies in the “TEXTILE – APPAREL” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Columbia Sportswear to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Columbia Sportswear and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Sportswear	5.22%	12.03%	7.20%
Columbia Sportswear Competitors	3.11%	-40.66%	4.68%

Risk & Volatility

Columbia Sportswear has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Sportswear’s competitors have a beta of 0.78, suggesting that their average share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Columbia Sportswear pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Columbia Sportswear pays out 37.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “TEXTILE – APPAREL” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.9% and pay out 38.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Sportswear is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

47.8% of Columbia Sportswear shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.2% of shares of all “TEXTILE – APPAREL” companies are owned by institutional investors. 48.3% of Columbia Sportswear shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.3% of shares of all “TEXTILE – APPAREL” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Columbia Sportswear and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Sportswear	$3.40 billion	$177.22 million	17.06
Columbia Sportswear Competitors	$6.65 billion	$537.40 million	7.21

Columbia Sportswear’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Columbia Sportswear. Columbia Sportswear is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Columbia Sportswear and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Sportswear	1	5	2	1	2.33
Columbia Sportswear Competitors	589	3355	4351	156	2.48

Columbia Sportswear presently has a consensus target price of $60.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.47%. As a group, “TEXTILE – APPAREL” companies have a potential upside of 22.89%. Given Columbia Sportswear’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Columbia Sportswear has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Columbia Sportswear beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It offers footwear products that include lightweight hiking boot; trail running shoes; rugged cold weather boots; sandals and shoes for use in water activities; and footwear for lifestyle wear. In addition, it owned network of branded and outlet retail stores; brand-specific e-commerce sites; and concession or franchise-based arrangements with third parties at branded outlet and shop-in-shop retail locations, as well as through independently operated specialty outdoor and sporting goods stores, sporting goods chains, department store chains, internet retailers, and international distributors. The company sells its products under the Columbia, Mountain Hard Wear, SOREL, and prAna brand names. Columbia Sportswear Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.