HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 13,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 178,327 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 6.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,191,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,153,000 after buying an additional 386,751 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 23,963 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $63,295,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,330,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,346,000 after acquiring an additional 36,867 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ COLB opened at $27.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.45 and a 200-day moving average of $25.25. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year 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, 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 prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.30%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 62.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on COLB shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

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.