Analyzing Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN) & Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB)

Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN) and Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Eagle Bancorp and Columbia Banking System, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp	1	2	1	1	2.40
Columbia Banking System	0	9	5	0	2.36

Eagle Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $31.00, indicating a potential downside of 9.28%. Columbia Banking System has a consensus price target of $33.46, indicating a potential upside of 7.11%. Given Columbia Banking System’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than Eagle Bancorp.

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Eagle Bancorp pays out 2.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Banking System pays out 51.2% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Eagle Bancorp and Columbia Banking System”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp	$634.26 million	1.64	-$138.05 million	$1.75	19.53
Columbia Banking System	$2.77 billion	3.20	$550.00 million	$2.89	10.81

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.0% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp	9.30%	4.66%	0.54%
Columbia Banking System	22.83%	11.93%	1.36%

Volatility and Risk

Eagle Bancorp has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Columbia Banking System beats Eagle Bancorp on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp

Eagle Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for EagleBank that provides commercial and consumer banking services primarily in the United States. The company also offers various commercial and consumer lending products comprising commercial loans for working capital, equipment purchases, real estate lines of credit, and government contract financing; asset based lending and accounts receivable financing; construction and commercial real estate loans; business equipment financing; consumer home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, and term loans; consumer installment loans, such as auto and personal loans; personal credit cards; and residential mortgage loans. In addition, it provides online and mobile banking services; checking and saving accounts; and other deposit services, including cash management services, business sweep accounts, lock boxes, remote deposit captures, account reconciliation services, merchant card services, safety deposit boxes, and automated clearing house origination, as well as after-hours depositories and ATM services. Further, the company offers insurance products and services through a referral program; and treasury management services. The company serves sole proprietors, small and medium-sized businesses, partnerships, corporations, and non-profit organizations and associations, as well as investors. Eagle Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

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.