Columbia Banking System (COLB) Competitors

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, risk and media sentiment.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in COLB or ABCB?

92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, COLB or ABCB?

Columbia Banking System has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Columbia Banking System is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris Bancorp, 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	$2.97B	1.85	$533.67M	$2.52	10.38
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.56	$358.68M	$5.68	13.17

Do analysts rate COLB or ABCB?

Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus target price of $29.36, suggesting a potential upside of 12.26%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 3.58%. Given Columbia Banking System's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Banking System	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Which has more volatility & risk, COLB or ABCB?

Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is COLB or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Columbia Banking System pays out 57.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% 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. Columbia Banking System has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Columbia Banking System is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer COLB or ABCB?

In the previous week, Columbia Banking System and Columbia Banking System both had 6 articles in the media. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.63 beat Columbia Banking System's score of 0.55 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Columbia Banking System	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is COLB or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Columbia Banking System's net margin of 17.98%. Columbia Banking System's return on equity of 11.31% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Banking System	17.98%	11.31%	1.15%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Columbia Banking System on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.