Critical Survey: Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) versus Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and Barclays (NYSE:BCS) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.4% of Barclays shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Barclays shares are owned 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.

Risk and Volatility

Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barclays has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Barclays pays an annual dividend of $0.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Columbia Banking System pays out 59.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Barclays pays out 22.8% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Columbia Banking System and Barclays, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Banking System	0	8	5	0	2.38
Barclays	0	6	4	0	2.40

Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus price target of $33.75, indicating a potential upside of 15.03%. Given Columbia Banking System’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than Barclays.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Columbia Banking System and Barclays”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Banking System	$3.21 billion	2.58	$550.00 million	$2.51	11.69
Barclays	$38.42 billion	0.22	$9.46 billion	$2.68	9.32

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

Profitability

This table compares Columbia Banking System and Barclays’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Banking System	19.96%	11.33%	1.31%
Barclays	22.27%	8.80%	0.42%

Summary

Columbia Banking System beats Barclays on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Columbia Banking System

Columbia Banking System, Inc. operates as the holding company of Umpqua Bank that provides banking, private banking, mortgage, and other financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business, non-interest bearing checking, interest-bearing checking and savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and insured cash sweep and other investment sweep solutions. It also provides commercial lending products, such as commercial lines of credit and term loans, accounts receivable and inventory financing, international trade finance, commercial property loans, multifamily loans, equipment loans, commercial equipment leases, real estate construction loans and permanent financing, and small business administration program financing, as well as capital markets. In addition, the company offers wealth management comprising financial planning, investment, trust, and insurance; treasury management, which includes digital and mobile banking solutions, ACH, wires, positive pay, remote deposit capture, integrated payments, integrated receivables, lockbox, cash vault, real-time payments, commercial card, and foreign exchange and international banking related products, as well as merchant services; and brokerage services, residential real estate loans and consumer loans. It serves its products to corporate, institutional, small business, and individual customers. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.