Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Competitors

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

Do institutionals & insiders 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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 1.8%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 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 38.4% 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 raised its dividend for 58 consecutive years and First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Do analysts prefer CBSH or FFBC?

Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $68.20, indicating a potential upside of 11.46%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.60%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Commerce Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerce Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Which has higher earnings and valuation, 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	3.92	$526.33M	$4.20	14.57
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.46	$228.83M	$2.50	9.86

Does the media prefer CBSH or FFBC?

In the previous week, Commerce Bancshares had 10 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Commerce Bancshares and 6 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. Commerce Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.53 indicating that Commerce Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Commerce Bancshares	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Financial Bancorp.	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

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