Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Columbia Banking System has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold” from 14 brokerages, with an average 1-year price target of about $32.81. Recent ratings have been mixed, including neutral, overweight, and buy calls.
• The stock was down 2.7% in Thursday trading, opening at $31.26, near its 52-week high of $32.77. It currently has a market cap of $9.05 billion and trades at a P/E ratio of 12.45.
• In its latest quarterly results, the company beat earnings expectations with EPS of $0.72 versus $0.68 expected, while revenue came in slightly below estimates. Columbia Banking System also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.37, equal to a 4.7% annualized yield.

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.8077.

COLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 2.7%

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $31.26 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $30.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.37. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $32.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $677.34 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 19.28%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Devine David Moore sold 3,872 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.77, for a total transaction of $115,269.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 18,636 shares in the company, valued at $554,793.72. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Banking System

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,106,228 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $506,069,000 after purchasing an additional 4,324,006 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,549,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $371,656,000 after buying an additional 408,087 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 32.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,407,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $345,113,000 after buying an additional 3,290,560 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,564,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $351,179,000 after buying an additional 163,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 140.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,666,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $242,237,000 after acquiring an additional 5,063,212 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company's offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.

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