Washington Trust Bancorp (WASH) Competitors

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) and Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of THFF or WASH?

72.7% of First Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.8% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, THFF or WASH?

First Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Washington Trust Bancorp. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Washington Trust Bancorp, 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	$271.10M	1.67	$60.67M	$4.69	8.19
Washington Trust Bancorp	$364.80M	1.25	$48.18M	$2.71	9.89

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in THFF or WASH?

First Financial received 154 more outperform votes than Washington Trust Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.66% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 53.89% of users gave Washington Trust Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Financial	Outperform Votes 341 61.66%	Underperform Votes 212 38.34%
Washington Trust Bancorp	Outperform Votes 187 53.89%	Underperform Votes 160 46.11%

Does the media prefer THFF or WASH?

In the previous week, First Financial had 1 more articles in the media than Washington Trust Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Financial and 6 mentions for Washington Trust Bancorp. Washington Trust Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat First Financial's score of 0.74 indicating that First Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Washington Trust Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is THFF or WASH a better dividend stock?

First Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Washington Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. First Financial pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Washington Trust Bancorp pays out 82.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Washington Trust Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Washington Trust Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is THFF or WASH more profitable?

First Financial has a net margin of 20.16% compared to First Financial's net margin of 12.01%. Washington Trust Bancorp's return on equity of 11.04% beat First Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial	20.16%	11.04%	1.15%
Washington Trust Bancorp	12.01%	10.11%	0.65%

Do analysts rate THFF or WASH?

First Financial presently has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.98%. Given Washington Trust Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe First Financial is more favorable than Washington Trust Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Washington Trust Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50

Which has more risk and volatility, THFF or WASH?

First Financial has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Washington Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Financial beats Washington Trust Bancorp on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.