Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Holdings in Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 256,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,884 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.12% of Columbia Banking System worth $6,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 194.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 53.5% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Financial Harvest LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Banking System during the first quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 38.1% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.38.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 0.4%

COLB stock opened at $26.92 on Tuesday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.11 and a 200-day moving average of $24.77.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $348.47 million during the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Columbia Banking System’s payout ratio is 64.86%.

Columbia Banking System 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.