Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Sells 134,392 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Columbia Banking System by 27.7%, now owning approximately 350,198 shares, valued at about $8.73 million.
• Columbia Banking System reported a quarterly EPS of $0.76, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting an 8.2% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 5.3%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 27.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 350,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 134,392 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 0.17% of Columbia Banking System worth $8,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COLB. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 23.1% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 61,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 11,637 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 482,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,030,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Stephens upgraded Columbia Banking System from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.86.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ COLB traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.77. 5,124,015 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,067,689. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.31. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.61 and a 12-month high of $32.85. The firm has a market cap 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $511.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Columbia Banking System's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.