Columbia Banking System (COLB) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend ABCB or COLB?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential upside of 0.72%. Columbia Banking System has a consensus target price of $28.86, indicating a potential upside of 10.44%. Given Columbia Banking System's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Columbia Banking System	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Is ABCB or COLB a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Banking System pays out 57.1% 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.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, ABCB or COLB?

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
Ameris Bancorp	$1.14B	4.32	$358.68M	$5.68	12.61
Columbia Banking System	$1.99B	2.77	$533.67M	$2.52	10.37

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or COLB?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ABCB or COLB 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
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Columbia Banking System	17.98%	11.31%	1.15%

Does the media refer more to ABCB or COLB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 1 more articles in the media than Columbia Banking System. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 6 mentions for Columbia Banking System. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Columbia Banking System's score of 0.90 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Columbia Banking System	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Columbia Banking System on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.