Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.3846.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, September 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler set a $33.00 price objective on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB stock opened at $26.93 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 1-year low of $19.61 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $348.47 million for the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 24.9% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,926,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,584,000 after purchasing an additional 384,649 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 23,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 55.4% in the third quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 20,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 7,193 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 41.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,851,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $768,375,000 after purchasing an additional 8,730,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 66,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after buying an additional 19,724 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

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.