AIA Group Ltd Buys New Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 9,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 71.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 74,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 30,892 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 185.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,363,000 after acquiring an additional 112,826 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 1st quarter worth about $511,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 182,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,850,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COLB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wedbush boosted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB opened at $30.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $31.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.02.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $765.06 million for 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 posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

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.