Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and Ambac Financial Group (NYSE:AMBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.
Risk and Volatility
Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ambac Financial Group has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
90.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.7% of Ambac Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Ambac Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Columbia Banking System and Ambac Financial Group's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Columbia Banking System | $627.13 million | 5.01 | $194.45 million | $2.68 | 16.36 |
Ambac Financial Group | $496 million | 1.61 | $-216,000,000.00 | N/A | N/A |
Columbia Banking System has higher revenue and earnings than Ambac Financial Group.
Profitability
This table compares Columbia Banking System and Ambac Financial Group's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Columbia Banking System | 22.90% | 6.35% | 0.94% |
Ambac Financial Group | N/A | -38.99% | -3.64% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Columbia Banking System and Ambac Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Columbia Banking System | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Ambac Financial Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus price target of $45.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.65%. Given Columbia Banking System's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than Ambac Financial Group.
Summary
Columbia Banking System beats Ambac Financial Group on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.