Bridge Bancorp (BDGE) Competitors

Bridge Bancorp (NASDAQ:BDGE) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Do analysts prefer BDGE or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $29.83, suggesting a potential upside of 22.52%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Bridge Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridge Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is BDGE or FFBC a better dividend stock?

Bridge Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Bridge Bancorp pays out 37.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, BDGE or FFBC?

Bridge Bancorp has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer BDGE or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 5 more articles in the media than Bridge Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 0 mentions for Bridge Bancorp. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.25 beat Bridge Bancorp's score of 0.00 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Bridge Bancorp	Neutral
First Financial Bancorp.	Neutral

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, BDGE or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than Bridge Bancorp. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bridge 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
Bridge Bancorp	$206.93M	2.76	$51.69M	$2.59	11.16
First Financial Bancorp.	$852.23M	2.74	$228.83M	$2.50	9.74

Is BDGE or FFBC more profitable?

Bridge Bancorp has a net margin of 23.05% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 19.41%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.57% beat Bridge Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridge Bancorp	23.05%	9.83%	0.88%
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in BDGE or FFBC?

58.8% of Bridge Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. 15.5% of Bridge Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. 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.

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Bridge Bancorp on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.