Brokerages Set Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Target Price at $30.38

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.38.

COLB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of 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. Stephens dropped their target price 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COLB. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 114.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 76,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 40,800 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth $560,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 39.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 11,836 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 135.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 111,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 63,932 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of COLB stock opened at $28.42 on Thursday. Columbia Banking System has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. Research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.69%.

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.