Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.0714.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COLB shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Zacks Research raised Columbia Banking System to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Stephens raised Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COLB. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 61,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 11,637 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 482,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,030,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of COLB opened at $26.29 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a twelve month low of $19.61 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.98%.The company had revenue of $511.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

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.