Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $31.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $28.00.

COLB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.42.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock opened at $26.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.64. Columbia Banking System has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $28.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.00.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $472.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,850,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 185.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,363,000 after acquiring an additional 112,826 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 81.4% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 52,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 23,597 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $432,041,000 after acquiring an additional 574,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth $63,152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.