Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Overweight” Rating

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $35.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $33.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 29.10% from the stock’s previous close.

COLB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised 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 research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.15.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ COLB opened at $27.11 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.90. Columbia Banking System has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Banking System

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 812.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,833,744 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 31.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611,563 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth $26,593,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,126,000 after acquiring an additional 874,986 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,263,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,099,000 after buying an additional 562,467 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.