Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Earns Neutral Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush restated their neutral rating on shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $20.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Columbia Banking System’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.58 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.65 EPS.

COLB has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Columbia Banking System from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ COLB opened at $19.12 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $28.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.16.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $473.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Aaron James Deer purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.32 per share, with a total value of $38,640.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at $711,942. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Aaron James Deer purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.32 per share, with a total value of $38,640.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 36,850 shares in the company, valued at $711,942. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth Whitehead Seaton purchased 2,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.48 per share, for a total transaction of $49,618.80. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 25,001 shares in the company, valued at $462,018.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 24,074 shares of company stock valued at $493,444 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COLB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,506.8% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 113.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.