Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $29.06 and last traded at $28.98, with a volume of 5146 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Columbia Banking System from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Columbia Banking System presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.12.

Columbia Banking System Trading Up 1.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.64. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $25.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.42.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $765.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.94%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Columbia Banking System's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Columbia Banking System during the 1st quarter worth about $2,850,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Columbia Banking System by 185.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,363,000 after purchasing an additional 112,826 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 52,594 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 23,597 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,327,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $432,041,000 after buying an additional 574,509 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Columbia Banking System by 7.6% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 420,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,135,000 after buying an additional 29,728 shares in the last quarter. 92.53% of the stock is 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.