Wedbush Raises Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target to $35.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its price objective lifted by Wedbush from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Columbia Banking System’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.65 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.67 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.70 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.71 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.71 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.72 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.85 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on COLB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.96.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $27.90 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $28.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.26.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 61.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 175,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,583,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 261,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,068,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 14.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 25,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 85.1% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 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.