Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Short Interest Update

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,580,000 shares, a drop of 52.7% from the August 31st total of 13,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Based on an average trading volume of 3,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 61,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 11,637 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 482,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,030,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 3.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 34.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted 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 note on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.27.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $26.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.60. Columbia Banking System has a 1-year low of $19.61 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.34.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 firm 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 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

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.