Pzena Investment Management LLC Sells 44,767 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Pzena Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,084,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 44,767 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $59,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the third quarter worth approximately $7,711,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 271,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,759,000 after acquiring an additional 10,143 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 78,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 26,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.62.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB opened at $31.37 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.91. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.51 and a 1 year high of $33.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.72.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $702.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven Gardner sold 10,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.23, for a total transaction of $328,602.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,479.71. This represents a 80.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. It operates through Umpqua Bank, a full-service financial institution serving consumers, businesses, professionals and institutions.

Umpqua Bank provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, business banking, treasury and cash-management services, mortgage banking, personal banking and wealth-management solutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, commercial real estate and business loans, consumer credit, online and mobile banking, and investment and advisory services.

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