Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Price Target Raised to $32.00

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on COLB. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Stephens raised their price objective on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Columbia Banking System to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.27.

Columbia Banking System Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of COLB stock opened at $28.88 on Friday. Columbia Banking System has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $31.11. The stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.63.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.10. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 17.11% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $715.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This is an increase from Columbia Banking System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Banking System

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,851,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,375,000 after acquiring an additional 8,730,937 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 135.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,782,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,921,303 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 68.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,116,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,611,000 after purchasing an additional 5,313,883 shares in the last quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the second quarter worth about $104,819,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 145.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,019,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,671,000 after buying an additional 4,157,835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Columbia Banking System News

Here are the key news stories impacting Columbia Banking System this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on both EPS and revenue — COLB reported $0.82 EPS vs. $0.72 consensus and $715M revenue, driven by revenue growth and lower provisions. This supports earnings momentum. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition tailwinds — the Pacific Premier deal contributed its first full quarter, boosting revenue and offering expected cost‑savings/synergy opportunities highlighted in coverage. COLB Q4 deep dive
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifted targets and forecasts after the results — DA Davidson bumped its PT to $32.50 (neutral) and RBC raised its PT to $32 (sector perform), signaling modest upside from current levels. DA Davidson PT raise RBC PT raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor resources published (earnings call transcript, slide deck) allowing deeper review of metrics like ROE (11.13%) and net margin (15.98%) for modeling and due diligence. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Rising operating expenses and integration costs were highlighted in coverage; higher expenses may pressure near‑term margins despite revenue gains. This appears to be weighing on sentiment. Zacks: expenses rose
• Negative Sentiment: High trading volume on the decline suggests profit‑taking after the beat; coupled with mostly neutral/sector‑perform analyst stances, upside may be capped near-term. (Market volume data referenced in trading summary.) MarketBeat earnings summary

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its principal subsidiary, Columbia State Bank. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the company provides a full range of banking and financial services to commercial, small business and consumer customers. Its branch network is concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where it aims to combine local decision-making with the resources of a larger institution.

The company’s offerings include commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, equipment and small business loans, and deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts.