First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Competitors

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, community ranking, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, FFBC or SFNC?

First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than Simmons First National. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simmons First National, 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
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.12B	1.99	$255.86M	$2.48	9.37
Simmons First National	$756.15M	2.95	$175.06M	$1.33	13.39

Does the media refer more to FFBC or SFNC?

In the previous week, Simmons First National had 1 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Simmons First National and 3 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.57 beat Simmons First National's score of 0.46 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Simmons First National	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer FFBC or SFNC?

First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus price target of $24.67, suggesting a potential upside of 6.09%. Simmons First National has a consensus price target of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.58%. Given Simmons First National's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Simmons First National is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Simmons First National	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more volatility & risk, FFBC or SFNC?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FFBC or SFNC?

First Financial Bancorp. received 4 more outperform votes than Simmons First National when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 48.47% of users gave Simmons First National an outperform vote while only 46.59% of users gave First Financial Bancorp. an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Financial Bancorp.	Outperform Votes 273 46.59%	Underperform Votes 313 53.41%
Simmons First National	Outperform Votes 269 48.47%	Underperform Votes 286 51.53%

Is FFBC or SFNC more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 20.74% compared to Simmons First National's net margin of 11.97%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 11.22% beat Simmons First National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	20.74%	11.22%	1.43%
Simmons First National	11.97%	5.94%	0.73%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FFBC or SFNC?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Simmons First National shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is FFBC or SFNC a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 37.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National pays out 63.2% 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.

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Simmons First National on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.