StockNews.com Lowers Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on COLB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.04.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $19.83 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $28.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.38. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 91,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,853,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 261,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,068,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 3.8% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 19,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 34,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is 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.