Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 485,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 211,787 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Columbia Banking System worth $12,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COLB. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Columbia Banking System during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Columbia Banking System by 111.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Columbia Banking System by 44.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Columbia Banking System by 1,507.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 4,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Columbia Banking System from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Columbia Banking System from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Columbia Banking System from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

Columbia Banking System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COLB opened at $27.14 on Friday. Columbia Banking System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.08 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $765.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.80 million. Columbia Banking System had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 10.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Columbia Banking System, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Columbia Banking System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Columbia Banking System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.34%.

Columbia Banking System Company 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.