Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,472 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $3,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COLB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,152,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 3,245.7% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 864,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,068,000 after purchasing an additional 838,762 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,468,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,468,000 after purchasing an additional 788,383 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,788,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $207,809,000 after purchasing an additional 700,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,578,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,158,000 after purchasing an additional 637,212 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on COLB. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.04.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB stock opened at $24.71 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $28.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.88 and its 200 day moving average is $20.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $472.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $476.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.80%.

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.