Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Short Interest Update

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,550,000 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the May 31st total of 7,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Pacific Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 113.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 85.1% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Columbia Banking System stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.56. 1,475,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,533,385. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.28 and a 200 day moving average of $20.33. Columbia Banking System has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.12. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 16.52%. The firm had revenue of $473.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COLB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Columbia Banking System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.