China Construction Bank (OTCMKTS:CICHY) vs. Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) Financial Survey

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and China Construction Bank (OTCMKTS:CICHY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Columbia Banking System and China Construction Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Banking System	$2.63 billion	3.22	$550.00 million	$2.51	11.91
China Construction Bank	$181.98 billion	1.79	$47.15 billion	$3.72	6.68

China Construction Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Columbia Banking System. China Construction Bank 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Banking System	19.96%	11.33%	1.31%
China Construction Bank	27.65%	9.82%	0.78%

Volatility & Risk

Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Construction Bank has a beta of 0.11, indicating that its share price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Dividends

Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. China Construction Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.93 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Columbia Banking System pays out 59.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China Construction Bank pays out 25.0% 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. 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Columbia Banking System and China Construction Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Banking System	0	8	5	0	2.38
China Construction Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00

Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus price target of $33.83, suggesting a potential upside of 13.15%. Given Columbia Banking System’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than China Construction Bank.

Summary

Columbia Banking System beats China Construction Bank on 12 of the 17 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 China Construction Bank

China Construction Bank Corporation provides various banking and related financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. It operates through Corporate Finance Business, Personal Finance Business, Treasury and Asset Management Business, and Others segments. The company accepts various deposits, such as foreign currency, all in one accounts, RMB, corporate term and notification, and corporate demand deposits, as well corporate deposits by agreement. Its loan products include personal business, car, and housing loans; and SME, traditional credit, commercial draft, buyer credit, and RMB credit line loans. The company also offers credit cards; physical gold for personal investment and personal gold accounts; foreign exchange services; certificate treasury and savings bonds, securities deposit accounts, and securities services, as well as bank-securities transfer and book-entry treasury bond over the counter transaction services; and wealth management products. In addition, it provides collection, salaries payment, third-party collection and payment, insurance agency, and remittance services; international settlement and financing, and FI services; securities and fund settlement services; guarantee-based, consulting and advising, and factoring services; fund custody services; and e-banking services. Further, the company offers institutional services comprising services for government agencies, social security, banks cooperation, bank-securities cooperation, bank-insurance cooperation, and services for non-banking financial institutions. China Construction Bank Corporation was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.