Columbia Banking System (COLB) Competitors

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

Is COLB or FFIN more profitable?

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

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Banking System	16.52%	11.58%	1.07%
First Financial Bankshares	30.03%	14.28%	1.54%

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

92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.8% of First Financial Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of First Financial Bankshares shares are held by company 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 stronger valuation & earnings, COLB or FFIN?

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
Columbia Banking System	$2.74B	1.44	$348.71M	$2.33	8.07
First Financial Bankshares	$636.07M	6.63	$198.98M	$1.40	21.11

Does the media favor COLB or FFIN?

In the previous week, Columbia Banking System had 14 more articles in the media than First Financial Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Columbia Banking System and 9 mentions for First Financial Bankshares. First Financial Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Columbia Banking System's score of 0.64 indicating that First Financial Bankshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Columbia Banking System	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Financial Bankshares	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer COLB or FFIN?

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

Do analysts prefer COLB or FFIN?

Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus target price of $22.19, suggesting a potential upside of 17.98%. First Financial Bankshares has a consensus target price of $31.33, suggesting a potential upside of 6.00%. Given Columbia Banking System's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than First Financial Bankshares.

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

Is COLB or FFIN a better dividend stock?

Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. First Financial Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Columbia Banking System pays out 61.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bankshares pays out 51.4% 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, COLB or FFIN?

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

Summary

First Financial Bankshares beats Columbia Banking System on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.