Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Invests $1.66 Million in Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 70,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,656,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the second quarter valued at about $2,187,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter valued at approximately $289,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the second quarter valued at $687,000. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 33.6% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 526,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,351,000 after purchasing an additional 132,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on COLB. Cowen began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Stephens raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Zacks Research lowered Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.38.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $27.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.15. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $348.47 million during the quarter. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. On average, research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

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.