Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Position Cut by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP reduced its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,722 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,506.8% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Columbia Banking System stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,897,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,008,324. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.04 and its 200-day moving average is $21.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.69. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.11.

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

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.65%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.80%.

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.