Westamerica Bancorporation (WABC) Competitors

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, community ranking, dividends, risk, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Is COLB or WABC more profitable?

Westamerica Bancorporation has a net margin of 44.55% compared to Columbia Banking System's net margin of 17.99%. Westamerica Bancorporation's return on equity of 16.15% beat Columbia Banking System's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Banking System	17.99%	11.21%	1.10%
Westamerica Bancorporation	44.55%	16.15%	2.20%

Does the media refer more to COLB or WABC?

In the previous week, Columbia Banking System had 5 more articles in the media than Westamerica Bancorporation. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Columbia Banking System and 8 mentions for Westamerica Bancorporation. Columbia Banking System's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Westamerica Bancorporation's score of 0.60 indicating that Columbia Banking System is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Columbia Banking System	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Westamerica Bancorporation	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is COLB or WABC a better dividend stock?

Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Columbia Banking System pays out 56.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 33.8% 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. Westamerica Bancorporation has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend COLB or WABC?

Columbia Banking System presently has a consensus target price of $30.75, suggesting a potential upside of 49.58%. Westamerica Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $57.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.70%. Given Columbia Banking System's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Columbia Banking System is more favorable than Westamerica Bancorporation.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Banking System	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Westamerica Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer COLB or WABC?

Columbia Banking System received 30 more outperform votes than Westamerica Bancorporation when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 49.38% of users gave Westamerica Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 42.27% of users gave Columbia Banking System an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Columbia Banking System	Outperform Votes 268 42.27%	Underperform Votes 366 57.73%
Westamerica Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 238 49.38%	Underperform Votes 244 50.62%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, COLB or WABC?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Columbia Banking System	$1.93B	2.24	$533.67M	$2.54	8.09
Westamerica Bancorporation	$293.75M	4.06	$138.64M	$5.20	8.58

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in COLB or WABC?

92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Columbia Banking System shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, COLB or WABC?

Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Westamerica Bancorporation beats Columbia Banking System on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.