Contrasting BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) & Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK)

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) and BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Columbia Financial and BBVA Banco Frances”s top-line 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	5.73	$51.77 million	$0.34	31.76
BBVA Banco Frances	$4.96 billion	0.52	$252.12 million	$1.02	12.40

BBVA Banco Frances has higher revenue and earnings than Columbia Financial. BBVA Banco Frances 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 and Volatility

Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.26, meaning that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BBVA Banco Frances has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Columbia Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. BBVA Banco Frances pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Columbia Financial pays out 58.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BBVA Banco Frances pays out 82.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Columbia Financial and BBVA Banco Frances, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Financial	0	0	4	0	3.00
BBVA Banco Frances	0	4	1	1	2.50

Columbia Financial currently has a consensus price target of $15.10, indicating a potential upside of 39.81%. BBVA Banco Frances has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 58.10%. Given BBVA Banco Frances’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BBVA Banco Frances is more favorable than Columbia Financial.

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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Columbia Financial and BBVA Banco Frances’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Financial	11.19%	5.29%	0.56%
BBVA Banco Frances	4.16%	7.56%	1.10%

Summary

BBVA Banco Frances beats Columbia Financial on 9 of the 17 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 BBVA Banco Frances

Banco BBVA Argentina S.A. provides various banking products and services to individuals and companies in Argentina. The company provides retail banking products and services, such as checking and savings accounts, time deposits, credit cards financing, consumer and pledge loans, mortgages, insurance, and investment products to individuals; and small and medium-sized companies products and services, including financing products, factoring, checking accounts, time deposits, transactional and payroll services, insurance, and investment products to private-sector companies. It also provides corporate and investment banking products and services, such as global transaction services; global markets solutions comprising risk management and securities brokerage; long-term financing products, including project finance and syndicated loans; and corporate finance services comprising mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets advisory services to corporations and multinational companies. The company was formerly known as BBVA Banco Francés S.A. and changed its name to Banco BBVA Argentina S.A. in July 2019. Banco BBVA Argentina S.A. was incorporated in 1886 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.