Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 60,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 91,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,545.31. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on COLB shares. DA Davidson set a $25.00 target price on Columbia Banking System and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.64.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 0.1%

COLB traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 285,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,706,376. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.59. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.11 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Columbia Banking System's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.02%.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.