Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a "hold" to a "buy", and several firms (Piper Sandler, Stephens, KBW, JPMorgan, Citigroup) have raised price targets — yet MarketBeat's consensus rating remains "Hold" with a $32.04 average price target.
• Columbia beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $0.82 (vs. $0.72 est.) and revenue of $715M (vs. $693.23M est.), has a PE of 11.61 and analysts forecast about 2.71 EPS for the current year.
• Insiders sold 18,206 shares (~$531,859) in the last 90 days and now own 0.68% of the stock, while institutional investors hold 92.53% of shares — notably Invesco increased its position to 4.17M shares.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Stephens increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.04.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $26.23 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 52-week low of $19.61 and a 52-week high of $32.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.82. The stock has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.60.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.11% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $693.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Columbia Banking System

In other news, Director Steven R. Gardner sold 13,725 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $403,926.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 2,241 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $63,308.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 100,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,838,249.25. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 18,206 shares of company stock valued at $531,859 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 13,053 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 356.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 60,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 47,570 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $217,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,170,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $116,559,000 after buying an additional 330,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

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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