Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 972,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,400 shares during the period. Columbia Banking System makes up about 4.7% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.46% of Columbia Banking System worth $26,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth $288,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,592,000 after purchasing an additional 176,334 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 716,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,712,000 after purchasing an additional 97,498 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 439.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 79,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after buying an additional 65,072 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reduced their price target on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.38.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB opened at $27.41 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.87 and a 200-day moving average of $27.18.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.99%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.69%.

Columbia Banking System Profile

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.