TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) versus Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Critical Analysis

TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) and Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.6% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.7% of Columbia Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Columbia Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Columbia Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays out 42.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Financial pays out 69.0% 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. TrustCo Bank Corp NY is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

TrustCo Bank Corp NY has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Financial has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares TrustCo Bank Corp NY and Columbia Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	$278.36 million	3.56	$61.14 million	$3.76	15.48
Columbia Financial	$508.02 million	6.01	$51.77 million	$0.29	39.06

TrustCo Bank Corp NY has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Columbia Financial. TrustCo Bank Corp NY is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Columbia Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares TrustCo Bank Corp NY and Columbia Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	22.83%	10.00%	1.02%
Columbia Financial	8.54%	7.35%	0.76%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for TrustCo Bank Corp NY and Columbia Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	0	0	0	1	4.00
Columbia Financial	0	1	3	0	2.75

Columbia Financial has a consensus price target of $15.10, indicating a potential upside of 33.31%. Given Columbia Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Columbia Financial is more favorable than TrustCo Bank Corp NY.

Summary

TrustCo Bank Corp NY beats Columbia Financial on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TrustCo Bank Corp NY

TrustCo Bank Corp NY is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary is Trustco Bank. Founded in 1902 as Schenectady Trust Company, the bank has grown from its roots in upstate New York into a regional community banking institution. Trustco Bank offers personal and business deposit accounts, including checking, savings and certificates of deposit, along with residential mortgages, home equity financing and other consumer and commercial loans. Its services also include online and mobile banking and trust and investment services.

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc. is the holding company for Columbia Bank, a community bank headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The bank serves individuals, businesses and organizations, primarily in northern and central New Jersey. Columbia Bank offers deposit accounts and lending services, including residential mortgages, home equity loans, commercial real estate financing and other business loans. It also provides digital and traditional banking services for personal and business customers. The bank traces its history to the Columbia Building and Loan Association, established in 1926.