Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $33.83

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.75.

COLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Fundamental Research set a $35.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $29.18 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System has a twelve month low of $23.83 and a twelve month high of $33.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.40 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 19.96%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Columbia Banking System by 7.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter valued at about $553,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth about $119,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 64.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. Through its principal subsidiary, Columbia Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, professionals and public-sector organizations.

Its products and services include consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, lines of credit, treasury management, wealth management, mortgage services and digital banking.