Columbia Financial (CLBK) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, BUSE or CLBK?

First Busey has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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	$475.63M	4.57	$113.69M	$1.07	22.72
Columbia Financial	$489.17M	3.27	-$11.65M	-$0.02	-762.90

Do analysts rate BUSE or CLBK?

First Busey currently has a consensus target price of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.81%. Columbia Financial has a consensus target price of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.86%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly 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

Which has more volatility & risk, BUSE or CLBK?

First Busey 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 0.21, meaning that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in 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 insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Columbia Financial shares are held by 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.

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%

Does the media refer more to BUSE or CLBK?

In the previous week, First Busey had 7 more articles in the media than Columbia Financial. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Busey and 1 mentions for Columbia Financial. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.56 beat Columbia Financial's score of 0.55 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

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

Summary

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