FourThought Financial Partners LLC Takes $233,000 Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 11.0% in the third quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 405,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after purchasing an additional 40,215 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,203,933 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 967,009 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 20,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 146,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,910,000 after purchasing an additional 25,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $20.44. The company had a trading volume of 635,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,854,452. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.14. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $28.11. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E 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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $480.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 61.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton bought 2,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,618.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 25,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,018.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.19.

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.