Clarus Co. (NASDAQ:CLAR – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,760,000 shares, a growth of 19.3% from the June 30th total of 3,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 21.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
CLAR has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson cut their price target on Clarus from $42.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Clarus from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 20th. TheStreet cut Clarus from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, June 27th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Clarus in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Clarus to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clarus presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Clarus news, Chairman Warren B. Kanders sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.27, for a total transaction of $2,783,750.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,595,643.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Clarus news, Chairman Warren B. Kanders sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.27, for a total transaction of $2,783,750.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,595,643.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Warren B. Kanders sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $4,202,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,828,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,416,028.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 26.30% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clarus
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Clarus in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Amalgamated Bank bought a new position in Clarus in the 1st quarter worth $98,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Clarus by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in Clarus in the 4th quarter worth $160,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in Clarus by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 7,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613 shares during the period. 58.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Clarus Price Performance
NASDAQ CLAR opened at $20.90 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $777.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Clarus has a 1-year low of $17.43 and a 1-year high of $32.36.
Clarus (NASDAQ:CLAR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 1st. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). Clarus had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 15.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Clarus will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.
Clarus Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 5th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Clarus’s payout ratio is 14.08%.
About Clarus
Clarus Corporation develops, manufactures, and distributes outdoor equipment and lifestyle products focusing on the outdoor and consumer markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and South America. Its Outdoor segment offers activity-based apparel, such as shells, insulation, midlayers, pants, and logowear; rock-climbing footwear and equipment, including carabiners, protection devices, harnesses, belay devices, helmets, and ice-climbing gears; technical backpacks and day packs; trekking poles; headlamps and lanterns; gloves and mittens; skincare and other products; and skis, ski poles, ski skins, and snow safety products, such as avalanche airbag systems, avalanche transceivers, shovels, and probes.