Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK – Get Free Report) and Freedom (NASDAQ:FRHC – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares Columbia Financial and Freedom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Columbia Financial | 10.91% | 5.12% | 0.54% |
| Freedom | 7.00% | 11.50% | 1.35% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Columbia Financial and Freedom”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Columbia Financial | $508.02 million | 4.96 | $51.77 million | $0.55 | 20.02 |
| Freedom | $2.19 billion | 4.32 | $153.33 million | $2.51 | 61.55 |
Freedom has higher revenue and earnings than Columbia Financial. Columbia Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Freedom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Columbia Financial and Freedom, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Columbia Financial | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Freedom | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
Columbia Financial presently has a consensus target price of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 68.03%. Freedom has a consensus target price of $138.00, indicating a potential downside of 10.67%. Given Columbia Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Columbia Financial is more favorable than Freedom.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of Freedom shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of Columbia Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 70.0% of Freedom shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Freedom has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Freedom beats Columbia Financial on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Columbia Financial
Columbia Financial, Inc., a bank holding company, provides various financial services to businesses and consumers in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, interest-earning checking products and municipal, savings and club deposits, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides various loans, including multifamily and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, one-to-four family residential loans, construction loans, home equity loans and advances, and other consumer loans, such as automobiles and personal loans, as well as unsecured and overdraft lines of credit. In addition, it offers title insurance products; wealth management services; and cash management services comprising remote deposit, lockbox service, sweep accounts, and escrow services. The company operates full-service banking offices in New Jersey; and branch offices in Freehold, New Jersey. Columbia Financial, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is based in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Columbia Financial, Inc. is a subsidiary of Columbia Bank MHC.
About Freedom
Freedom Holding Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides securities brokerage, securities dealing, market making, investment research, investment counseling, and investment banking services. It offers retail brokerage services for exchange-traded and over-the-counter corporate equity and debt securities, money market instruments, exchange traded options and futures contracts, government bonds, and mutual funds; securities trading; underwriting services; margin lending services collateralized by securities and cash in the customer’s account; various investment education and training courses; investment research services; and commercial banking services, including payment cards, digital mortgages, and digital business and digital auto loans, as well as Freedom Box, a package of payment acquiring services. The company also provides capital raising solutions for corporate clients through initial public offerings and follow-on offerings; and debt capital markets solutions that focuses on structuring and distributing private and public debt for various purposes, including buyouts, acquisitions, growth capital financings, and recapitalizations, as well as information processing services. In addition, it facilitates repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements in proprietary trading activities; and covers short positions and settle other securities obligations to accommodate customers’ needs and finance its inventory positions. Further, the company offers proprietary trading and investment services, as well as insurance products; and Tradernet software platform for client margin risk evaluation and middle office security transfer requests. It operates in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, rest of Europe, the United States, Russia, the Middle East, and Caucasus. The company was formerly known as BMB Munai, Inc. and changed its name to Freedom Holding Corp. Freedom Holding Corp. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
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