Brokerages Set Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Target Price at $29.64

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.64.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on COLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 194.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB stock opened at $23.92 on Wednesday. Columbia Banking System has a 52-week low of $18.22 and a 52-week high of $32.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.10 and a 200-day moving average of $25.93.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $481.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $482.86 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.02%.

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.