Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Earns Hold (C+) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB)‘s stock had its “hold (c+)” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Tuesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen began coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.33.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $26.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 0.60. Columbia Banking System has a one year low of $19.61 and a one year high of $32.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.39.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.98%.The company had revenue of $348.47 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COLB. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the second quarter worth about $104,819,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 221.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,947,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,342,000 after acquiring an additional 4,096,733 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 18.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,948,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $209,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381,597 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth approximately $23,813,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Columbia Banking System by 18.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,527,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,796 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.