Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on COLB. Stephens lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.04.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $26.23 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $32.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.82.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 17.11%.The business had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is presently 65.49%.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In other news, Director Steven R. Gardner sold 13,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $403,926.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Torran B. Nixon sold 2,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.85, for a total transaction of $64,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 98,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,833,906.65. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,206 shares of company stock valued at $531,859. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 39.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 664,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,094,000 after purchasing an additional 187,551 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 145.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,019,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,671,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157,835 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 45.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 278,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,179,000 after acquiring an additional 87,627 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 25.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,495,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 48,702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.