Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target Raised to $32.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its price target lifted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.27.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 2.7%

Columbia Banking System stock opened at $28.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.60. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $31.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.61.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.11% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $715.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $693.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.0% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 122,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,422,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 4.9% during the third quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 9,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.2% in the third quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 37,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Columbia Banking System News

Here are the key news stories impacting Columbia Banking System this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on both EPS and revenue — COLB reported $0.82 EPS vs. $0.72 consensus and $715M revenue, driven by revenue growth and lower provisions. This supports earnings momentum. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition tailwinds — the Pacific Premier deal contributed its first full quarter, boosting revenue and offering expected cost?savings/synergy opportunities highlighted in coverage. COLB Q4 deep dive
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifted targets and forecasts after the results — DA Davidson bumped its PT to $32.50 (neutral) and RBC raised its PT to $32 (sector perform), signaling modest upside from current levels. DA Davidson PT raise RBC PT raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor resources published (earnings call transcript, slide deck) allowing deeper review of metrics like ROE (11.13%) and net margin (15.98%) for modeling and due diligence. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Rising operating expenses and integration costs were highlighted in coverage; higher expenses may pressure near?term margins despite revenue gains. This appears to be weighing on sentiment. Zacks: expenses rose
• Negative Sentiment: High trading volume on the decline suggests profit?taking after the beat; coupled with mostly neutral/sector?perform analyst stances, upside may be capped near-term. (Market volume data referenced in trading summary.) MarketBeat earnings summary

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.