Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer FFBC or CBSH?

In the previous week, Commerce Bancshares had 6 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Commerce Bancshares and 8 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Commerce Bancshares' score of 0.59 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.	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Commerce Bancshares	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FFBC or CBSH?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.3% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer FFBC or CBSH?

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus price target of $29.40, indicating a potential upside of 10.11%. Commerce Bancshares has a consensus price target of $68.20, indicating a potential upside of 10.62%. Given Commerce Bancshares' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Commerce Bancshares 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)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Commerce Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is FFBC or CBSH more profitable?

Commerce Bancshares has a net margin of 26.37% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 19.41%. Commerce Bancshares' return on equity of 16.01% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%
Commerce Bancshares	26.37%	16.01%	1.74%

Which has more risk and volatility, FFBC or CBSH?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, FFBC or CBSH?

Commerce Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Commerce Bancshares, 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.	$1.62B	1.58	$228.83M	$2.50	10.68
Commerce Bancshares	$2.09B	3.95	$526.33M	$4.20	14.68

Is FFBC or CBSH a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Commerce Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Commerce Bancshares pays out 26.2% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Commerce Bancshares has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years.

Summary

Commerce Bancshares beats First Financial Bancorp. on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.