AlphaQuest LLC Takes Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 29,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COLB. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 34.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 12.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 170,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,223,000 after acquiring an additional 19,130 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the first quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 108,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,694,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 23.1% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 61,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 11,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.85.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of COLB opened at $25.70 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a one year low of $19.61 and a one year high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.57.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $348.47 million during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.