Easterly Investment Partners LLC Acquires 255,578 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 103.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 502,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 255,578 shares during the quarter. Columbia Banking System makes up 1.1% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.24% of Columbia Banking System worth $13,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,850,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 185.1% in the first 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. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 81.4% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 52,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 23,597 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,041,000 after buying an additional 574,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 7.6% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 420,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,135,000 after buying an additional 29,728 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Columbia Banking System stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 359,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,283,609. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.91. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $31.74.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is currently 62.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COLB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.12.

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.