Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $31.09 and last traded at $31.06, with a volume of 42450 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on COLB shares. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial raised 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 note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.33 and a 200-day moving average of $22.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The company had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 62.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,357,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.5% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 28,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 45.7% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 120,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 37,941 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth $1,079,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter valued at $683,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.