Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Purchased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,323 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Columbia Banking System worth $3,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 4.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 26.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 53.5% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 18,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COLB shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven R. Gardner sold 13,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $403,926.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock opened at $32.07 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.02. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.61. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.61 and a 12-month high of $32.23.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.11% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $693.23 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This is an increase from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.49%.

Columbia Banking System Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.