Range Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 69,080 Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 69,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,866,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 111.5% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 54.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 1,507.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,553 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 26.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on COLB. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given 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 $29.31.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,626,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,213,068. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $32.85. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.96.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The company had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 62.34%.

About Columbia Banking System

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.