Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Takes Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,018,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,593,000. Columbia Banking System comprises about 1.4% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.49% of Columbia Banking System as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter valued at about $409,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the third quarter valued at approximately $751,000. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Columbia Banking System by 135.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 29,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $769,000 after purchasing an additional 16,921 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth approximately $276,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 868,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,688,000 after purchasing an additional 9,561 shares during the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $31.01 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.21. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $32.85.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.