Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $35.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $33.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on COLB. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.31.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 0.1 %

COLB stock opened at $27.16 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.30 and a 200-day moving average of $26.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.67. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 68,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 10,776 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 37.8% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 58,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 333.8% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 639,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,711,000 after acquiring an additional 491,742 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by 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.