Trexquant Investment LP Takes Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 86,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1,506.8% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.19.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 0.2 %

COLB opened at $18.82 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.69. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 61.80%.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

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.