Alps Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,510 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 141.3% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 34.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,331 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $27.00 price target on Columbia Banking System and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Columbia Banking System from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.79.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ COLB traded up $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $23.88. 2,302,250 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,820,966. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.93 and a 200 day moving average of $24.90. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.61 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 16.85%. The firm had revenue of $481.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $482.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Columbia Banking System's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.02%.

Columbia Banking System 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.