EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 111.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 44.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 8,253.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on COLB shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Raymond James increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.19.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 1.3 %

COLB opened at $29.60 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $29.20 and its 200-day moving average is $24.82. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.64.

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. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

Columbia Banking System 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.