Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has upgraded Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, with a new price target of $31.00, indicating an anticipated upside of 18.96% from its current stock price.
• Columbia Banking System has shown positive earnings performance, reporting an EPS of $0.76 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.66 and marking an 8.2% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Current consensus ratings for COLB indicate 2 strong buy ratings, 3 buy ratings, and 10 hold ratings, leading to an average price target of $29.36 among analysts.

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $31.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous price objective of $27.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Columbia Banking System to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays raised 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 research report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.36.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $26.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,782,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,416,890. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.24. Columbia Banking System 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $511.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.00 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 58,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 50,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.