Clarus Co. (NASDAQ:CLAR) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Clarus Co. (NASDAQ:CLAR) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a decline 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 short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 4.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Clarus Stock Down 6.2 %

Clarus stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.22. The stock had a trading volume of 414,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 291,016. The firm has a market cap of $161.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.83. Clarus has a 52-week low of $3.89 and a 52-week high of $7.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.69 and a 200 day moving average of $5.89.

Clarus (NASDAQ:CLAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Clarus had a net margin of 2.23% and a negative return on equity of 0.75%. The business had revenue of $56.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Clarus will post 0.02 EPS for the current year.

Clarus Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Clarus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clarus

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

Institutional Trading of Clarus

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in Clarus by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 982,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,612,000 after purchasing an additional 25,495 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Clarus by 22.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 791,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,325,000 after buying an additional 146,766 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Clarus by 16.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 638,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,310,000 after buying an additional 88,694 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Clarus by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 547,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after acquiring an additional 18,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Road Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Clarus by 348.7% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Road Investment Management L.P. now owns 463,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 360,583 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Clarus

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.