Analyzing Columbia Financial (CLBK) and Its Peers

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Financial	8.54%	5.17%	0.67%
Columbia Financial Competitors	15.62%	9.43%	0.93%

Volatility & Risk

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Columbia Financial and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Financial	0	0	4	0	3.00
Columbia Financial Competitors	7497	30259	27867	1492	2.35

Columbia Financial currently has a consensus price target of $15.10, indicating a potential upside of 34.40%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 14.67%. Given Columbia Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Columbia Financial is more favorable than its competitors.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Columbia Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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 8.9% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Financial lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Financial	$508.02 million	$51.77 million	38.74
Columbia Financial Competitors	$9.95 billion	$2.42 billion	21.14

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

Summary

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

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc. is the holding company for Columbia Bank, a community bank headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The bank serves individuals, businesses and organizations, primarily in northern and central New Jersey. Columbia Bank offers deposit accounts and lending services, including residential mortgages, home equity loans, commercial real estate financing and other business loans. It also provides digital and traditional banking services for personal and business customers. The bank traces its history to the Columbia Building and Loan Association, established in 1926.