Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on COLB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.04.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB stock opened at $19.89 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.50. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $28.11. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 0.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Columbia Banking System’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.24%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 91,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 261,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,068,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.8% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 19,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 34,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

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.