Comparing First Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) & Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB)

First Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) and Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for First Community Bancshares and Columbia Banking System, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Community Bancshares	0	2	1	0	2.33
Columbia Banking System	0	8	5	0	2.38

Columbia Banking System has a consensus price target of $33.58, suggesting a potential upside of 17.71%. Given Columbia Banking System’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than First Community Bancshares.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Community Bancshares and Columbia Banking System”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Community Bancshares	$166.54 million	5.41	$48.79 million	$3.17	15.02
Columbia Banking System	$3.21 billion	2.51	$550.00 million	$2.51	11.37

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.0% of First Community Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Community Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Columbia Banking System 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.

Dividends

First Community Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. First Community Bancshares pays out 41.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Banking System pays out 59.0% 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. First Community Bancshares has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Columbia Banking System has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

First Community Bancshares has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Community Bancshares	28.84%	10.67%	1.61%
Columbia Banking System	19.96%	11.33%	1.31%

Summary

Columbia Banking System beats First Community Bancshares on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Community Bancshares

First Community Bankshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for First Community Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement plans; and commercial, consumer real estate, and consumer and other loans. The company also provides trust management, estate administration, and investment advisory services; and investment management services. It serves individuals and businesses across various industries, such as education, government, and health services; coal mining and gas extraction; retail trade; construction; manufacturing; tourism; and transportation. The company operates through branches in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Community Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia.

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.