Covestor Ltd Acquires 5,604 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 109.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,604 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,850,000. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,955,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 185.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,363,000 after purchasing an additional 112,826 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,025,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,152,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.02. 447,709 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,508,184. The company has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.66. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $28.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.83.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 16.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COLB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.04.

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.