Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Reduces Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lowered its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,223,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 93,798 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 1.06% of Columbia Banking System worth $60,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,625,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $341,024,000 after purchasing an additional 33,477 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,602,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $205,345,000 after buying an additional 61,242 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,315,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $197,602,000 after acquiring an additional 206,643 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $148,956,000 after acquiring an additional 512,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,456,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,363,000 after acquiring an additional 209,774 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James set a $27.00 price target on Columbia Banking System and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

NASDAQ COLB traded down $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.95. The stock had a trading volume of 429,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,868. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $18.11 and a one year high of $32.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.59.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. The firm had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $482.86 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Columbia Banking System's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Banking System news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total transaction of $116,461.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.