Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Purchases 10,335 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Key Points

• Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System, now holding 367,599 shares, making it the firm's 6th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and GAMMA Investing LLC, have also boosted their holdings in Columbia Banking System during the first quarter.
• Columbia Banking System recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, yielding 5.4%, with a payout ratio of 57.14%.

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,335 shares during the quarter. Columbia Banking System accounts for approximately 1.1% of Keeley Teton Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC owned about 0.17% of Columbia Banking System worth $9,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 141.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Financial Harvest LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the first quarter valued at approximately $95,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of COLB traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $26.77. 17,287,397 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,835,593. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.61 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The company's 50 day moving average is $24.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.28. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COLB. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Stephens raised Columbia Banking System from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Columbia Banking System to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.86.

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.