Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target to $27.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised Columbia Banking System from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $23.81.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 11.6 %

Shares of COLB opened at $26.99 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $28.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.14 and its 200 day moving average is $19.80.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $472.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $476.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 261,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,068,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.8% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 19,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 34,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 92,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

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.