Financial Review: Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) versus First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB)

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Northwest Bancorp and Columbia Banking System”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Northwest Bancorp	$118.64 million	0.69	-$4.19 million	$0.72	12.01
Columbia Banking System	$2.30 billion	3.53	$550.00 million	$2.26	12.15

Columbia Banking System has higher revenue and earnings than First Northwest Bancorp. First Northwest Bancorp 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.

Risk and Volatility

First Northwest Bancorp has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.1% of First Northwest Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of First Northwest Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Northwest Bancorp	5.35%	4.18%	0.30%
Columbia Banking System	17.11%	11.40%	1.26%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for First Northwest Bancorp and Columbia Banking System, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Northwest Bancorp	1	2	1	0	2.00
Columbia Banking System	0	11	3	1	2.33

First Northwest Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $13.50, indicating a potential upside of 56.07%. Columbia Banking System has a consensus price target of $32.04, indicating a potential upside of 16.67%. Given First Northwest Bancorp’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Northwest Bancorp is more favorable than Columbia Banking System.

Summary

Columbia Banking System beats First Northwest Bancorp on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Northwest Bancorp

First Northwest Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for First Fed Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in western Washington, the United States. The company accepts various deposit instruments, including checking, money market deposit, savings, and transaction accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also originates one- to four-family mortgage loans, commercial and multi-family real estate loans, construction and land loans, and commercial business loans, as well as consumer loans primarily consisting of automobile loans, and home-equity loans and lines of credit. First Northwest Bancorp operates branch offices in Clallam, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, Washington. First Northwest Bancorp was founded in 1923 and is based in Port Angeles, Washington.

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.