Columbia Banking System (COLB) Competitors

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) and Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, community ranking, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Is FFIN or COLB a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.5%. First Financial Bankshares pays out 51.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Banking System pays out 61.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. First Financial Bankshares has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Columbia Banking System has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Does the media favor FFIN or COLB?

In the previous week, Columbia Banking System had 7 more articles in the media than First Financial Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Columbia Banking System and 9 mentions for First Financial Bankshares. First Financial Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat Columbia Banking System's score of 0.62 indicating that Columbia Banking System is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bankshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Columbia Banking System	4 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, FFIN or COLB?

Columbia Banking System has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial Bankshares. Columbia Banking System is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Financial Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Bankshares	$483.74M	8.96	$198.98M	$1.40	21.69
Columbia Banking System	$2.74B	1.46	$348.71M	$2.33	8.21

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FFIN or COLB?

First Financial Bankshares received 49 more outperform votes than Columbia Banking System when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 49.52% of users gave First Financial Bankshares an outperform vote while only 44.50% of users gave Columbia Banking System an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Financial Bankshares	Outperform Votes 312 49.52%	Underperform Votes 318 50.48%
Columbia Banking System	Outperform Votes 263 44.50%	Underperform Votes 328 55.50%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of FFIN or COLB?

69.8% of First Financial Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by institutional investors. 4.2% of First Financial Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, FFIN or COLB?

First Financial Bankshares has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FFIN or COLB?

First Financial Bankshares presently has a consensus price target of $31.33, suggesting a potential upside of 3.21%. Columbia Banking System has a consensus price target of $22.19, suggesting a potential upside of 16.07%. Given First Financial Bankshares' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than First Financial Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Columbia Banking System	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.15

Is FFIN or COLB more profitable?

First Financial Bankshares has a net margin of 30.03% compared to First Financial Bankshares' net margin of 16.52%. Columbia Banking System's return on equity of 14.28% beat First Financial Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bankshares	30.03%	14.28%	1.54%
Columbia Banking System	16.52%	11.66%	1.07%

Summary

First Financial Bankshares beats Columbia Banking System on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.