Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Stock Position Raised by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 13.3% in the first quarter, owning approximately 2.7 million shares valued at around $67 million.
• Columbia Banking System's stock opened at $27.01 and has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, with a reported Q2 EPS of $0.76, exceeding analysts' estimates.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36, yielding 5.3%, and has a payout ratio of 57.14%.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,703,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 316,988 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 1.29% of Columbia Banking System worth $67,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 221.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,947,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $148,342,000 after acquiring an additional 4,096,733 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,527,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $162,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,796 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 528.4% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 742,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,508,000 after purchasing an additional 624,011 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 81.5% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,331,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,199,000 after purchasing an additional 597,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the first quarter worth $12,588,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 0.4%

COLB opened at $27.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $24.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.29. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.61 and a 12-month high of $32.85.

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. 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 analyst estimates of $492.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COLB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Columbia Banking System to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned 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 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.

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