HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 23,399 Shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,399 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Columbia Banking System were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 266,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,180 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 19,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 201,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,639,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on COLB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Columbia Banking System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Barclays cut their price target on Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group started coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.13.

Columbia Banking System Price Performance

NASDAQ COLB opened at $29.18 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.79. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $32.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.63.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $675.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.34 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is 58.96%.

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.