Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys 104,653 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 40.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 361,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,653 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $9,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth $246,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 114,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,938,000 after acquiring an additional 32,356 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 10.1% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 59,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 5,464 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter valued at about $353,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 18.9% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 375,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,657,000 after purchasing an additional 59,669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Columbia Banking System to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Columbia Banking System from $34.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.65.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $28.96 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.70. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.61 and a 1-year high of $31.11. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.60.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.23 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 17.11%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.49%.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.