Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.12.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Columbia Banking System by 812.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,182,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,295,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833,744 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,659,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,873,000 after buying an additional 1,611,563 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 3rd quarter worth $26,593,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1,001.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 962,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,126,000 after buying an additional 874,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 21.4% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,468,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,468,000 after acquiring an additional 788,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $30.88 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $31.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.41.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.