Columbia Financial (CLBK) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Which has better earnings and valuation, BUSE or CLBK?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Columbia Financial. Columbia Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, 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 Busey	$663.36M	3.29	$113.69M	$1.07	22.78
Columbia Financial	$489.17M	3.20	-$11.65M	-$0.02	-746.50

Is BUSE or CLBK more profitable?

First Busey has a net margin of 8.32% compared to Columbia Financial's net margin of -0.32%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.46% beat Columbia Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%
Columbia Financial	-0.32%	2.96%	0.30%

Which has more risk & volatility, BUSE or CLBK?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.21, suggesting that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey 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 is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer BUSE or CLBK?

First Busey presently has a consensus target price of $27.67, suggesting a potential upside of 13.53%. Columbia Financial has a consensus target price of $16.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.17%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Columbia Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Columbia Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the media favor BUSE or CLBK?

In the previous week, First Busey had 4 more articles in the media than Columbia Financial. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for First Busey and 2 mentions for Columbia Financial. Columbia Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.89 beat First Busey's score of 0.86 indicating that Columbia Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Columbia Financial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

First Busey beats Columbia Financial on 15 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.