Eagle Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 397,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,381 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.19% of Columbia Banking System worth $10,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 85.1% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 144.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 137,166.7% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 4,115 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on COLB shares. Wedbush boosted their price target 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $31.64 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.81. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $31.86. The company has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

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.