Columbia Banking System, Inc. $COLB Stock: ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stake

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 332,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,164 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Columbia Banking System worth $9,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Columbia Banking System during the second quarter worth $880,443,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Columbia Banking System by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,549,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,656,000 after buying an additional 408,087 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter worth about $120,867,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,906,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Columbia Banking System in the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,245,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

COLB stock opened at $28.03 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.17. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.83 and a 52 week high of $33.67. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.66.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.40 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 19.96% and a return on equity of 11.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COLB shares. Fundamental Research set a $35.00 price objective on Columbia Banking System in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Columbia Banking System from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Columbia Banking System from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.23.

Columbia Banking System Company Profile

Columbia Banking System, Inc (NASDAQ: COLB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. Through its subsidiary, Umpqua Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Umpqua Bank’s offerings include deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, real estate finance, treasury management, cash management, investment services and other business banking solutions. The bank serves small and middle-market companies as well as retail customers through branches, digital banking platforms and relationship-based financial services.

Columbia Banking System traces its history to the formation of Columbia Bank in Washington in 1993.