Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys 174,754 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 21.0%, acquiring an additional 174,754 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 1,006,864 shares valued at approximately $25.1 million.
• Columbia Banking System reported $0.76 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.66, with revenue of $511.55 million compared to the consensus estimate of $492 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.44 and a yield of 5.4%, scheduled to be paid on September 15th to stockholders on record as of August 29th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,006,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 174,754 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.48% of Columbia Banking System worth $25,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 50,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.9% in 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 last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.2% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,313 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 108,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 0.3%

COLB opened at $26.90 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $24.39 and its 200-day moving average is $24.27. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.61 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $492.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on COLB. Zacks Research raised shares of Columbia Banking System to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of 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. DA Davidson increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.86.

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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