Clarus Co. (NASDAQ:CLAR) Short Interest Down 8.5% in September

Clarus Co. (NASDAQ:CLAR) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the August 31st total of 1,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 372,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 4.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Clarus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CLAR traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.24. The company had a trading volume of 261,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 290,203. Clarus has a one year low of $3.89 and a one year high of $7.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.89. The company has a market capitalization of $162.65 million, a PE ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 0.83.

Clarus (NASDAQ:CLAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Clarus had a negative return on equity of 0.75% and a net margin of 2.23%. The company had revenue of $56.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.28 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. Research analysts expect that Clarus will post 0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clarus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Clarus’s dividend payout ratio is 38.46%.

Insider Activity at Clarus

In other Clarus news, Chairman Warren B. Kanders purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.05 per share, with a total value of $121,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 4,075,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,505,884.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Warren B. Kanders acquired 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.19 per share, with a total value of $838,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 4,045,527 shares in the company, valued at $16,950,758.13. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Warren B. Kanders bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.05 per share, with a total value of $121,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 4,075,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,505,884.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 22.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clarus

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in Clarus during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clarus during the first quarter worth about $83,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Clarus by 71.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Clarus by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Clarus during the 1st quarter valued at about $162,000. 90.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital lowered shares of Clarus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Clarus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 10th. Roth Mkm downgraded Clarus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $6.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, B. Riley dropped their price objective on Clarus from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.67.

Clarus Company Profile

Clarus Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes outdoor equipment and lifestyle products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Outdoor and Adventure. The Outdoor segment offers apparels, 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; and skis, ski poles, ski skins, avalanche airbag systems, avalanche transceivers, shovels, and probes.