Range Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 69,080 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 69,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,866,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,330,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,346,000 after acquiring an additional 36,867 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 120,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 37,941 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 439.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 79,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,086,000 after acquiring an additional 65,072 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 219.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 212,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,559,000 after acquiring an additional 146,219 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on COLB shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.31.

Columbia Banking System Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of COLB stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $27.20. 1,626,873 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,068. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The business had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.29%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.34%.

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.