Cooke & Bieler LP Sells 286,046 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Cooke & Bieler LP cut its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,214,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 286,046 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $34,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the second quarter valued at $880,443,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,549,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,656,000 after buying an additional 408,087 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter valued at $120,867,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter worth about $68,906,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter worth about $68,245,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $29.20 on Thursday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.75 and a 1 year high of $33.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.22. The company has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $677.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.40 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.96% and a return on equity of 11.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 58.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.23.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. It operates through Umpqua Bank, a full-service financial institution serving consumers, businesses, professionals and institutions.

Umpqua Bank provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, business banking, treasury and cash-management services, mortgage banking, personal banking and wealth-management solutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, commercial real estate and business loans, consumer credit, online and mobile banking, and investment and advisory services.

Columbia Banking System traces its roots to the formation of Columbia State Bank in Washington in 1993.