Reviewing Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and Bank7 (NASDAQ:BSVN)

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and Bank7 (NASDAQ:BSVN) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank7 has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Bank7 pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Columbia Banking System pays out 62.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank7 pays out 25.3% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Columbia Banking System and Bank7’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Banking System	16.15%	10.13%	0.98%
Bank7	24.22%	19.75%	2.05%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.5% of Bank7 shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 44.0% of Bank7 shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Columbia Banking System and Bank7″s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Banking System	$2.74 billion	2.17	$348.71 million	$2.31	12.28
Bank7	$130.79 million	2.95	$28.27 million	$3.80	10.89

Columbia Banking System has higher revenue and earnings than Bank7. Bank7 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Columbia Banking System and Bank7, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Banking System	0	10	3	0	2.23
Bank7	0	1	2	0	2.67

Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus target price of $27.12, indicating a potential downside of 4.42%. Bank7 has a consensus target price of $37.00, indicating a potential downside of 10.56%. Given Columbia Banking System’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than Bank7.

Summary

Bank7 beats Columbia Banking System on 9 of the 16 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 Bank7

Bank7 Corp. operates as a bank holding company for Bank7 that provides banking and financial services to individual and corporate customers. It offers commercial deposit, commercial checking, money market, and other deposit accounts; and retail deposit services, such as certificates of deposit, money market accounts, checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, and automated teller machine access. The company also provides commercial real estate, hospitality, energy, and commercial and industrial lending services; consumer lending services to individuals for personal and household purposes comprising residential real estate loans and mortgage banking services, personal lines of credit, loans for the purchase of automobiles, and other installment loans, as well as secured and unsecured term loans and home improvement loans. It operates through a network of full-service branches in Oklahoma, the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas metropolitan area, and Kansas. The company was formerly known as Haines Financial Corp. Bank7 Corp. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.