Reviewing Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) and Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF)

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) and Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Columbia Financial and Jefferies Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Financial	10.91%	5.12%	0.54%
Jefferies Financial Group	7.58%	9.23%	1.34%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Columbia Financial and Jefferies Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Financial	0	3	0	0	2.00
Jefferies Financial Group	1	4	2	0	2.14

Columbia Financial currently has a consensus price target of $18.50, suggesting a potential downside of 12.94%. Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus price target of $62.62, suggesting a potential upside of 20.33%. Given Jefferies Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Jefferies Financial Group is more favorable than Columbia Financial.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Columbia Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.9% of Jefferies Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Columbia Financial and Jefferies Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Financial	$508.02 million	4.35	$51.77 million	$0.55	38.64
Jefferies Financial Group	$10.82 billion	0.98	$710.47 million	$3.58	14.54

Jefferies Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Columbia Financial. Jefferies Financial Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Columbia Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jefferies Financial Group has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Jefferies Financial Group beats Columbia Financial on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc., a bank holding company, provides various financial services to businesses and consumers in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, interest-earning checking products and municipal, savings and club deposits, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides various loans, including multifamily and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, one-to-four family residential loans, construction loans, home equity loans and advances, and other consumer loans, such as automobiles and personal loans, as well as unsecured and overdraft lines of credit. In addition, it offers title insurance products; wealth management services; and cash management services comprising remote deposit, lockbox service, sweep accounts, and escrow services. The company operates full-service banking offices in New Jersey; and branch offices in Freehold, New Jersey. Columbia Financial, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is based in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Columbia Financial, Inc. is a subsidiary of Columbia Bank MHC.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services. The company also offers financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services; equities research, sales, and trading services; wealth management services; and online foreign exchange trading services. In addition, it provides investment grade distressed debt securities, U.S. and European government and agency securities, municipal bonds, leveraged loans, emerging markets debt, and interest rate and credit index derivative products; and manages and offers services to a diverse group of alternative asset management platforms across a spectrum of investment strategies and asset classes. The company was formerly known as Leucadia National Corporation and changed its name to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. in May 2018. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in New York, New York.