Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target to $28.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on COLB. Truist Financial cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Columbia Banking System from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.88.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of COLB opened at $25.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.64. Columbia Banking System has a fifty-two week low of $17.08 and a fifty-two week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $472.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.01 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.94%. Columbia Banking System’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.80%.

Institutional Trading of Columbia Banking System

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ariadne Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at about $252,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 135.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 111,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after buying an additional 63,932 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 11,836 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 321,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,402,000 after buying an additional 18,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.