Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 20.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,916 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COLB. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 85.1% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 144.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 137,166.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 4,115 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB opened at $23.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.58. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $472.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $476.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.04.

Columbia Banking System 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.