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

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.19.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, January 25th.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In related news, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton acquired 2,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.48 per share, with a total value of $49,618.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,001 shares in the company, valued at $462,018.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,753,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,376,000 after buying an additional 123,120 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,788,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,809,000 after buying an additional 700,643 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,079,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,714,000 after purchasing an additional 26,010 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,578,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,158,000 after purchasing an additional 637,212 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,939,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,980,000 after purchasing an additional 967,009 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB opened at $20.17 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.62 and its 200 day moving average is $21.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.69.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $473.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Columbia Banking System’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.14%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.80%.

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.