Wedbush Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB)

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by stock analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $20.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s target price points to a potential upside of 1.21% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on COLB. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stephens lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James downgraded Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.12.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

NASDAQ COLB traded up $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.76. The stock had a trading volume of 613,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,835,122. Columbia Banking System has a one year low of $17.08 and a one year high of $28.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The business had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher Merrywell purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.09 per share, for a total transaction of $105,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 50,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,832.43. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Columbia Banking System news, CEO Clint Stein acquired 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.96 per share, for a total transaction of $199,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 165,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,472,736.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher Merrywell bought 5,000 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.09 per share, for a total transaction of $105,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 50,727 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,832.43. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $719,737. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 405,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,231,000 after acquiring an additional 40,215 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1,633.4% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,936,000 after buying an additional 1,203,933 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 32.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,939,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,980,000 after buying an additional 967,009 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 20,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 146,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,910,000 after acquiring an additional 25,771 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.