First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares First Citizens BancShares and Fifth Third Bancorp's revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| First Citizens BancShares | $1.82 billion | 4.50 | $457.37 million | N/A | N/A |
| Fifth Third Bancorp | $9.79 billion | 2.76 | $2.51 billion | $2.77 | 13.71 |
Fifth Third Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Citizens BancShares.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
39.2% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.6% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares First Citizens BancShares and Fifth Third Bancorp's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| First Citizens BancShares | 23.54% | 12.08% | 1.01% |
| Fifth Third Bancorp | 17.50% | 7.52% | 0.80% |
Risk & Volatility
First Citizens BancShares has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for First Citizens BancShares and Fifth Third Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| First Citizens BancShares | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Fifth Third Bancorp | 0 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 2.78 |
First Citizens BancShares presently has a consensus price target of $875.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.29%. Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus price target of $34.4605, suggesting a potential downside of 10.42%. Given First Citizens BancShares' higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe First Citizens BancShares is more favorable than Fifth Third Bancorp.
Dividends
First Citizens BancShares pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 39.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Citizens BancShares has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Fifth Third Bancorp has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Fifth Third Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Fifth Third Bancorp beats First Citizens BancShares on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
