HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.70 Million Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,399 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COLB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 41.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,851,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,375,000 after purchasing an additional 8,730,937 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 135.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,782,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,921,303 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 68.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,116,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,611,000 after purchasing an additional 5,313,883 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 32.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,407,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290,560 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 8,133.3% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,063,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,857,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,390 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COLB. Wall Street Zen downgraded Columbia Banking System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.13.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of COLB opened at $29.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.79. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $32.70.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $675.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $677.34 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 58.96%.

Columbia Banking System Profile

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.