Contrasting Columbia Financial (CLBK) & Its Competitors

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) is one of 919 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Columbia Financial to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.

Dividends

Columbia Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Columbia Financial pays out 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.2% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Financial lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Columbia Financial and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Financial	$508.02 million	$51.77 million	38.31
Columbia Financial Competitors	$54.79 billion	$2.42 billion	21.06

Columbia Financial’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Columbia Financial. Columbia Financial is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Financial’s rivals have a beta of 0.61, suggesting that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Columbia Financial and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Financial	0	1	3	0	2.75
Columbia Financial Competitors	7483	30220	27802	1478	2.35

Columbia Financial currently has a consensus target price of $15.10, suggesting a potential upside of 35.91%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 16.57%. Given Columbia Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Columbia Financial is more favorable than its rivals.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Columbia Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Columbia Financial and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Financial	8.54%	7.35%	0.76%
Columbia Financial Competitors	15.65%	9.44%	0.93%

Summary

Columbia Financial rivals beat Columbia Financial on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

Columbia Financial Company Profile

Columbia Financial, Inc., a bank holding company, provides various financial services to businesses and consumers in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, interest-earning checking products and municipal, savings and club deposits, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides various loans, including multifamily and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, one-to-four family residential loans, construction loans, home equity loans and advances, and other consumer loans, such as automobiles and personal loans, as well as unsecured and overdraft lines of credit. In addition, it offers title insurance products; wealth management services; and cash management services comprising remote deposit, lockbox service, sweep accounts, and escrow services. The company operates full-service banking offices in New Jersey; and branch offices in Freehold, New Jersey. Columbia Financial, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is based in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Columbia Financial, Inc. is a subsidiary of Columbia Bank MHC.