Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target Raised to $32.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $27.00 to $32.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.62.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock opened at $22.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.05 and a 200-day moving average of $27.02. Columbia Banking System has a 52-week low of $18.11 and a 52-week high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.36%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 141.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc operates as the holding company of Umpqua Bank that provides banking, private banking, mortgage, and other financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business, non-interest bearing checking, interest-bearing checking and savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and insured cash sweep and other investment sweep solutions.