Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $32.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on COLB. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $28.63 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.13. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 2.63 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, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,330,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,346,000 after purchasing an additional 36,867 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 45.7% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 120,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 37,941 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 439.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 79,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after buying an additional 65,072 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter valued at about $3,181,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 37.8% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 97,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,947,000 after buying an additional 26,877 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.