Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Upgraded by Wedbush to “Outperform”

Wedbush upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Wedbush currently has $31.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $28.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $25.42.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $26.08 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.37 and its 200-day moving average is $21.00. Columbia Banking System has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $28.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $472.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $476.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Columbia Banking System’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.52%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 812.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,182,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,295,000 after buying an additional 2,833,744 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth about $63,152,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3,245.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 864,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,068,000 after purchasing an additional 838,762 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 21.4% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,468,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,468,000 after acquiring an additional 788,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,578,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,158,000 after purchasing an additional 637,212 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.