Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, CBSH or FFBC?

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
Commerce Bancshares	$2.09B	3.76	$526.33M	$4.20	14.00
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.52	$228.83M	$2.50	10.31

Does the media prefer CBSH or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 6 more articles in the media than Commerce Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 6 mentions for Commerce Bancshares. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat Commerce Bancshares' score of 0.62 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Commerce Bancshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Financial Bancorp.	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in CBSH or FFBC?

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

Is CBSH or FFBC a better dividend stock?

Commerce Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Commerce Bancshares pays out 26.2% 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. Commerce Bancshares has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years and First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend CBSH or FFBC?

Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $68.43, suggesting a potential upside of 16.39%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus price target of $29.83, suggesting a potential upside of 15.77%. Given Commerce Bancshares' higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Commerce Bancshares is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerce Bancshares	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Is CBSH or FFBC 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
Commerce Bancshares	26.37%	16.01%	1.74%
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%

Which has more volatility and risk, CBSH or FFBC?

Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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