Strs Ohio Invests $1.72 Million in Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 68,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 221.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,947,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,342,000 after acquiring an additional 4,096,733 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,527,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,796 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 528.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 742,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,508,000 after purchasing an additional 624,011 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 81.5% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,331,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,199,000 after buying an additional 597,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the first quarter worth $12,588,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $25.36 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.61 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.23. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $511.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on COLB shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $27.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.36.

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.