UPDATE: Wunderlich Securities Downgrades Columbia Banking System to Hold

Wunderlich Securities lowers its rating on Columbia Banking System COLB to Hold from Buy as stock appears fairly valued. Target price of $22 is reiterated. Wunderlich Securities says, "COLB reported 4Q11 EPS of $0.37, which beat our estimate of $0.27, as well as the consensus estimate of $0.31 (for the 13th straight quarter). The company's outperformance versus our estimate was the result of stronger core revenue than we had expected largely due to a greater amount of accretion income on acquired loans than we had modeled. No doubt, COLB's performance in 4Q11 was very strong and the outlook is favorable, but we believe much of this is reflected in the current share price, hence our Hold rating." COLB closed at $21 a share on Friday.