Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target Raised to $24.00 at Barclays

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its target price upped by Barclays from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Columbia Banking System from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $24.50.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

COLB stock opened at $26.12 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $28.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $472.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $476.01 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the first quarter valued at $2,850,000. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,955,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 185.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,363,000 after acquiring an additional 112,826 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,025,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $432,041,000 after acquiring an additional 574,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.