Critical Review: Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) and Swedbank (OTCMKTS:SWDBY)

Swedbank (OTCMKTS:SWDBY) and Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Swedbank has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Swedbank pays an annual dividend of SEK 1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Columbia Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Swedbank pays out 50.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Financial pays out 69.0% 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. Swedbank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of Columbia Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Swedbank and Columbia Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Swedbank	2	2	2	0	2.00
Columbia Financial	0	0	4	0	3.00

Columbia Financial has a consensus target price of $15.10, indicating a potential upside of 34.58%. Given Columbia Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Columbia Financial is more favorable than Swedbank.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Swedbank	$11.08 billion	4.24	$3.35 billion	SEK 2.92	14.32
Columbia Financial	$508.02 million	5.95	$51.77 million	$0.29	38.69

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Swedbank	28.94%	14.76%	0.97%
Columbia Financial	8.54%	5.17%	0.67%

Summary

Swedbank beats Columbia Financial on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Swedbank

Swedbank is a Swedish banking group serving individuals, businesses and financial institutions. Its services include everyday banking and payments, savings and investment products, mortgages and other lending, and corporate banking. The bank has a long history rooted in Sweden’s savings bank movement, which dates to the early 19th century. Today, its main markets are Sweden and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Swedbank is headquartered in Stockholm. Jens Henriksson has served as the group’s president and chief executive officer since 2019.

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc. is the holding company for Columbia Bank, a community bank headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The bank serves individuals, businesses and organizations, primarily in northern and central New Jersey. Columbia Bank offers deposit accounts and lending services, including residential mortgages, home equity loans, commercial real estate financing and other business loans. It also provides digital and traditional banking services for personal and business customers. The bank traces its history to the Columbia Building and Loan Association, established in 1926.