UPDATE: Credit Suisse Initiates Columbia Banking System at Outperform

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ: COLB) with an Outperform rating and $22 price target.

Credit Suisse noted, "We are initiating coverage of Columbia Banking System with an Outperform rating owing to its overweight exposure to C&I lending, the strategic deployment of excess capital, and related profitability improvement from its pending acquisition of WCBO. Relative valuation is also attractive at 10.2x our 2013 EPS estimate.

Columbia Banking System closed at $16.94 on Monday.

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