Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Friday, April 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB stock opened at $20.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 0.69. Columbia Banking System has a one year low of $17.08 and a one year high of $28.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.14.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 16.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.12%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 91,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,853,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 261,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,068,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 19,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 34,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

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.