Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Upgraded at DA Davidson

DA Davidson upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. DA Davidson currently has $36.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $33.00.

COLB has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.62.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COLB opened at $30.45 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.62. Columbia Banking System has a fifty-two week low of $23.83 and a fifty-two week high of $33.67.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 19.96%.The company had revenue of $677.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $687.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Columbia Banking System will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO David Moore Devine sold 3,872 shares of Columbia Banking System stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.77, for a total transaction of $115,269.44. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 18,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $554,793.72. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $880,443,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2,897.1% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,763,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $335,847,000 after acquiring an additional 10,404,753 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 135.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,782,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,921,303 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 140.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,666,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,237,000 after acquiring an additional 5,063,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth $120,867,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

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.