Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 85.1% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 144.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 137,166.7% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 4,115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of COLB stock opened at $28.18 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $29.41. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.73.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released 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 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.34%.

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.