Channing Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 148,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,955,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 261,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,970,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 59,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In related news, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton acquired 2,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,618.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 25,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,018.48. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on COLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. 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 research report on Friday, January 26th. Stephens downgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup cut their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.8 %

COLB traded up $0.17 on Monday, reaching $20.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,214,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,860,398. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.62 and a 200-day moving average of $21.14. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.11. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.69.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 61.80%.

Columbia Banking System 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.