Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target to $32.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Fundamental Research set a $35.00 price target on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. DA Davidson raised Columbia Banking System from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.42.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $28.92 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System has a 1 year low of $23.83 and a 1 year high of $33.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.49 and its 200-day moving average is $30.05. The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.40 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.96% and a return on equity of 11.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 58.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 0.7% in the second quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 45,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 71,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,949,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 5.7% in the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 7,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Finally, Henshaw Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.4% in the first quarter. Henshaw Capital LLC now owns 34,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc (NASDAQ: COLB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. Through its subsidiary, Umpqua Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Umpqua Bank’s offerings include deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, real estate finance, treasury management, cash management, investment services and other business banking solutions. The bank serves small and middle-market companies as well as retail customers through branches, digital banking platforms and relationship-based financial services.

Columbia Banking System traces its history to the formation of Columbia Bank in Washington in 1993.