Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.3%, now owning 419,434 shares valued at approximately $10.46 million.
• Several hedge funds, including T. Rowe Price and JPMorgan Chase, have increased their stakes in Columbia Banking System, highlighting increased institutional interest in the company.
• Columbia Banking System reported earnings of $0.76 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue reaching $511.55 million.

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 419,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,863 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.20% of Columbia Banking System worth $10,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.9% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,742,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $317,802,000 after buying an additional 116,795 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 4.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,667,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $191,222,000 after purchasing an additional 351,375 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 18.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,527,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $162,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,796 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 221.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,947,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $148,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,096,733 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 13.3% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,703,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,432,000 after purchasing an additional 316,988 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB stock opened at $26.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.26. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.61 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Columbia Banking System's payout ratio is 57.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Columbia Banking System to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.07.

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.

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