Preferred Bank (PFBC) Competitors

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) and First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, community ranking, earnings and media sentiment.

Is PFBC or FFIN more profitable?

First Financial Bankshares has a net margin of 30.03% compared to Preferred Bank's net margin of 28.70%. Preferred Bank's return on equity of 21.28% beat First Financial Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Preferred Bank	28.70%	21.28%	2.18%
First Financial Bankshares	30.03%	14.28%	1.54%

Which has more risk & volatility, PFBC or FFIN?

Preferred Bank has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bankshares has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to PFBC or FFIN?

In the previous week, First Financial Bankshares had 5 more articles in the media than Preferred Bank. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for First Financial Bankshares and 1 mentions for Preferred Bank. Preferred Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.87 beat First Financial Bankshares' score of 0.89 indicating that Preferred Bank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Preferred Bank	Very Positive
First Financial Bankshares	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of PFBC or FFIN?

72.8% of Preferred Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.8% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer PFBC or FFIN?

Preferred Bank received 13 more outperform votes than First Financial Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.46% of users gave Preferred Bank an outperform vote while only 49.52% of users gave First Financial Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Preferred Bank	Outperform Votes 325 66.46%	Underperform Votes 164 33.54%
First Financial Bankshares	Outperform Votes 312 49.52%	Underperform Votes 318 50.48%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, PFBC or FFIN?

First Financial Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Preferred Bank. Preferred Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Financial Bankshares, 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
Preferred Bank	$485.10M	2.22	$150.04M	$10.36	7.19
First Financial Bankshares	$636.07M	6.30	$198.98M	$1.40	20.04

Do analysts recommend PFBC or FFIN?

Preferred Bank presently has a consensus price target of $67.00, indicating a potential downside of 9.61%. First Financial Bankshares has a consensus price target of $31.33, indicating a potential upside of 12.06%. Given First Financial Bankshares' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Financial Bankshares is more favorable than Preferred Bank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Preferred Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
First Financial Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is PFBC or FFIN a better dividend stock?

Preferred Bank pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. First Financial Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Preferred Bank pays out 27.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bankshares pays out 51.4% 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. Preferred Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Preferred Bank beats First Financial Bankshares on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.