Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $32.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $26.40 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.15. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.64. Columbia Banking System has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,109,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,623,000 after buying an additional 178,327 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,563 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,191,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,153,000 after purchasing an additional 386,751 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,718,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,851,000 after purchasing an additional 23,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 812.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,182,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833,744 shares during 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.