Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Announces Earnings Results

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The company had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,525,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,848,506. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 0.71. Columbia Banking System has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.41%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 87.27%.

Insider Transactions at Columbia Banking System

In related news, insider Aaron James Deer acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.32 per share, for a total transaction of $38,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,942. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Columbia Banking System news, insider Aaron James Deer purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.32 per share, for a total transaction of $38,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 36,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,942. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher Merrywell purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.09 per share, for a total transaction of $105,450.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 50,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,832.43. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 35,133 shares of company stock worth $719,737. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on COLB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.19.

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.