Columbia Banking Authorizes Share Buybacks of Up to $1.2 Billion
Key Facts
Columbia Banking System’s board authorized the repurchase of up to $1.2 billion in common stock, according to the earnings report the company filed on October 22, 2026. The authorization follows the completion of a previous program and gives management a new framework for returning capital to shareholders. The company is not obligated to buy a specific number of shares under it. Chief Executive Clint Stein said the authorization reflects confidence in the company’s strategy and its expectation that it will continue to generate excess capital. The new program has no expiration date, and the board retains the right to suspend, terminate or amend it at any time.
The new program extends earlier buybacks that the company said, together with dividends, returned more than $1 billion to shareholders in the year before the announcement. In the third quarter alone, the company repurchased $199 million in shares, completing the previous authorization. Between November 2025 and September 30, 2026, it bought 23.3 million shares at an average price of $29.88 per share. That amount represented 7.8% of common shares outstanding on September 30, 2025. The timing and amount of new purchases are at management’s discretion, taking into account capital position, financial performance, market conditions and regulatory restrictions.
Management expects share repurchases of between $150 million and $200 million in the fourth quarter of 2026, the chief financial officer said on the third-quarter earnings call. The range places expected near-term activity within the $1.2 billion authorization, without making it an obligation to buy a specific amount. In the third quarter, the company reported net income of $220 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.78, while operating diluted earnings per share were $0.82. Net interest margin was 4.11%, up 18 basis points from the second quarter. The company attributed the improvement to higher yields on loans and investment securities and a funding mix shift toward customer deposits and away from higher-cost wholesale funding sources.
Net interest income rose to $615 million in the third quarter, from $589 million in the second quarter and $505 million in the year-earlier period. The company said the quarterly increase was tied to higher income from loans and investment securities and lower funding costs. Total deposits were $52.7 billion on September 30, compared with $52.1 billion on June 30, as growth in customer balances partly offset reductions in brokered and general wholesale deposits. At the same time, borrowings fell to $3.3 billion from $4.3 billion, and the company said growth in customer deposits and other cash sources enabled the reduction. Available liquidity was $26 billion, equivalent to 40% of assets, 49% of deposits and 121% of uninsured deposits.
On the asset side, total loans and leases fell to $46.9 billion on September 30, from $47.2 billion at the end of June. The company attributed the decline to continued runoff of below-market transactional loans and lower commercial real estate balances, amid higher prepayments and pricing pressure. Still, commercial loans, including owner-occupied commercial real estate, rose 3% year over year compared with the end of June, while transactional loan paydowns and pricing competition limited overall lending growth. The ratio of nonperforming assets to total assets fell to 0.39% from 0.42% on June 30. Net credit charge-offs were 0.24% of average loans and leases on an annualized basis, compared with 0.25% in the previous quarter.
The company expects net interest margin to be about 4.05% in the fourth quarter, with a slight negative impact expected from excess subordinated debt carry and seasonal deposit outflows. It also expects to redeem about $240 million of subordinated notes tied to preferred trust securities during the fourth quarter and early 2027. In September, the company issued $250 million in subordinated notes due in 2036, with a fixed annual interest rate of 6.721% for the first five years. On October 22, the day results were announced, the stock closed at $29.89, up 2.36% during the session. The company said it remains focused on growing customer relationships, improving balance-sheet quality and supporting long-term shareholder returns.