Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

COLB has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Columbia Banking System from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Columbia Banking System from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens increased their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.04.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB opened at $23.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.00 and a 200-day moving average of $19.82. Columbia Banking System has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $28.11.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Columbia Banking System will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Columbia Banking System by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,191,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,153,000 after acquiring an additional 386,751 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 333.8% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 639,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,711,000 after buying an additional 491,742 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 58,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 70,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 5,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,082,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.