Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $29.06 and last traded at $28.98, with a volume of 5146 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.47. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of COLB. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the first quarter valued at about $2,850,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 185.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,363,000 after purchasing an additional 112,826 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 52,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 23,597 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,041,000 after buying an additional 574,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 7.6% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 420,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,135,000 after buying an additional 29,728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

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.