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 lessened its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm 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 SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1.0% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 50,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.9% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 58,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.2% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,313 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the first quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 108,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,694,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COLB traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.82. 4,008,411 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,621,462. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.33 and a 200 day moving average of $24.24. 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 $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $511.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $492.00 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.98%.The firm's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, research 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Stephens upgraded 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Columbia Banking System to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.36.

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.