Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.25.

A number of research firms recently commented on COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This trade represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth $65,249,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,563 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,544 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,593,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,126,000 after purchasing an additional 874,986 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 1.2 %

COLB opened at $25.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.47. Columbia Banking System has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. As a group, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.69%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 56.69%.

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.