Inspire Advisors LLC Purchases 26,926 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 36.5% in Q1, owning 100,766 shares valued at $2.5 million.
• Columbia Banking System reported $0.76 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing an 8.2% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, representing a 5.80% yield, with a payout ratio of 57.14%.

Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 36.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,926 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $2,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 39.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 50,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 14,349 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth about $1,159,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,611,000 after purchasing an additional 21,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,544 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on COLB. Barclays boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.93.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $24.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 528,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,430. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.83 and a 200 day moving average of $24.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $492.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.93%. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Columbia Banking System 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.