Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,416 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 175,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,583,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 111,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 28,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Columbia Banking System by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 25,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ COLB opened at $28.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.13. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.08 and a twelve month high of $32.85. The company has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 62.34%.

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.