Carter Bankshares (CARE) Competitors

Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) and Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, community ranking and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, CARE or CLBK?

Carter Bankshares has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor CARE or CLBK?

In the previous week, Columbia Financial had 1 more articles in the media than Carter Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Columbia Financial and 1 mentions for Carter Bankshares. Carter Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 1.87 beat Columbia Financial's score of 1.49 indicating that Carter Bankshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Carter Bankshares	Very Positive
Columbia Financial	Positive

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, CARE or CLBK?

Carter Bankshares has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Columbia Financial. Columbia Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carter 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
Carter Bankshares	$135.74M	2.84	$24.52M	$1.20	13.89
Columbia Financial	$189.02M	7.91	-$11.65M	-$0.02	-712.50

Is CARE or CLBK more profitable?

Carter Bankshares has a net margin of 10.09% compared to Columbia Financial's net margin of -2.39%. Carter Bankshares' return on equity of 6.50% beat Columbia Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carter Bankshares	10.09%	6.50%	0.53%
Columbia Financial	-2.39%	2.20%	0.22%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CARE or CLBK?

41.5% of Carter Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Carter Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Columbia Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate CARE or CLBK?

Carter Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $21.50, indicating a potential upside of 28.97%. Columbia Financial has a consensus target price of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.28%. Given Carter Bankshares' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Carter Bankshares is more favorable than Columbia Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carter Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Columbia Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CARE or CLBK?

Columbia Financial received 106 more outperform votes than Carter Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.65% of users gave Columbia Financial an outperform vote while only 51.61% of users gave Carter Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Carter Bankshares	Outperform Votes 32 51.61%	Underperform Votes 30 48.39%
Columbia Financial	Outperform Votes 138 67.65%	Underperform Votes 66 32.35%

Summary

Carter Bankshares beats Columbia Financial on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.