Alberta Investment Management Corp Takes $1.58 Million Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp has acquired a new $1.58 million position in Columbia Banking System, purchasing 63,300 shares.
• Institutional investors now own 92.53% of Columbia Banking System's stock, with several firms such as JPMorgan Chase and LPL Financial significantly increasing their holdings.
• Columbia Banking System reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.76, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue increasing by 8.2% year-over-year.

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 63,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,579,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COLB. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,611,000 after acquiring an additional 21,713 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,544 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 29,220 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,417 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.93.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $23.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.61 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.60.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $511.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.00 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.