Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Shares Bought by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 646.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 308,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 267,236 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $5,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Columbia Banking System by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,939,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,980,000 after purchasing an additional 967,009 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the third quarter worth approximately $80,011,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 90.7% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 72,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after acquiring an additional 34,397 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 20,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 146,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,910,000 after acquiring an additional 25,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

Shares of COLB traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.44. 1,957,596 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,527,401. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.66. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $480.39 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.52% and a return on equity of 11.58%. Columbia Banking System’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.04.

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.