Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Trading Down 3.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) dropped 3.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $27.69 and last traded at $27.2810. Approximately 1,696,370 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 2,920,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Monday. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Columbia Banking System from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.38.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.23.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $348.47 million during the quarter. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. This is a positive change from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 41.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,851,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $768,375,000 after purchasing an additional 8,730,937 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 135.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,782,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,754,000 after buying an additional 7,921,303 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 32.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,407,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $345,113,000 after acquiring an additional 3,290,560 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 68.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,116,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,611,000 after acquiring an additional 5,313,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.9% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,742,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,802,000 after acquiring an additional 116,795 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

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.