Columbia Banking System (COLB) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) will be releasing its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Columbia Banking System to post earnings of $0.54 per share for the quarter. Parties that are interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $519.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.94 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Columbia Banking System to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $18.79 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.71. Columbia Banking System has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.27%.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In other Columbia Banking System news, CFO Ron L. Farnsworth purchased 2,500 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.71 per share, with a total value of $51,775.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 160,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,111.83. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Columbia Banking System news, CFO Ron L. Farnsworth purchased 2,500 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.71 per share, with a total value of $51,775.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 160,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,111.83. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton purchased 2,685 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.48 per share, with a total value of $49,618.80. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 25,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,018.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 35,133 shares of company stock worth $719,737 over the last quarter. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on COLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com lowered Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Stephens lowered Columbia Banking System from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.42.

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.