Phocas Financial Corp. Lowers Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Phocas Financial Corp. cut its holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 228,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,085 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.11% of Columbia Banking System worth $5,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,544 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,476,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 81.5% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,331,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,199,000 after purchasing an additional 597,710 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,514,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,956,000 after purchasing an additional 512,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,109,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,986,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on COLB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.93.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COLB opened at $23.26 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.83 and its 200 day moving average is $24.62. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.61 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.62.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company had revenue of $511.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Columbia Banking System’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

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.