Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.25.

Several analysts recently issued reports on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of COLB opened at $24.62 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.84 and its 200-day moving average is $27.43. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. As a group, research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 56.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 4,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.99, for a total value of $116,461.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 104,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,725,545.31. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth about $65,249,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,563 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,544 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,593,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,126,000 after purchasing an additional 874,986 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.