Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Key Points

• Columbia Banking System reported earnings of $0.76 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.66 by $0.10. Revenue for the quarter was $511.55 million, up 8.2% year-over-year.
• The company's stock rose by 6.3% to $24.82 following the earnings announcement, with a market capitalization of $5.22 billion.
• Columbia Banking System declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, translating to a yield of 5.80%, with a dividend payout ratio of 57.14%.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.10, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $511.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $492.00 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Columbia Banking System stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.88. 1,857,288 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,952,981. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.71. Columbia Banking System has a 52-week low of $19.61 and a 52-week high of $32.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COLB. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 194.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 55.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 12,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 4,520 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 35.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 56,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 14,824 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 82,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 15,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 887,267 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,128,000 after purchasing an additional 16,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

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.