Zacks Research Upgrades Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ:CMCO) to “Strong-Buy”

Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ:CMCO) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on CMCO. DA Davidson set a $20.00 target price on Columbus McKinnon in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Columbus McKinnon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Columbus McKinnon from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Columbus McKinnon Price Performance

Shares of CMCO stock opened at $16.11 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.83. Columbus McKinnon has a 52-week low of $12.50 and a 52-week high of $24.40. The stock has a market cap of $463.00 million, a PE ratio of 76.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ:CMCO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $241.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Columbus McKinnon will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Columbus McKinnon

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 transaction, the insider owned 9,366 shares in the company, valued at $218,040.48. The trade was a 35.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCO. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Columbus McKinnon by 698.6% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 726,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,422,000 after acquiring an additional 635,770 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Columbus McKinnon in the 3rd quarter worth $8,040,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Columbus McKinnon by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,121,000 after purchasing an additional 481,470 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbus McKinnon by 100.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbus McKinnon by 80.3% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 95.96% of the company’s stock.

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.