Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “hold” rating and a $27.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.12% from the stock’s previous close.

COLB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens dropped their price objective on 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. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $23.66 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System has a 52 week low of $18.11 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.53. The company has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.59.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 194.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.