The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) 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 analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.
Risk & Volatility
The PNC Financial Services Group has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for The PNC Financial Services Group and First Financial Bancorp., as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
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The PNC Financial Services Group | 1 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 2.33 |
First Financial Bancorp. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
The PNC Financial Services Group presently has a consensus target price of $147.4118, suggesting a potential downside of 3.38%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $15.00, suggesting a potential downside of 27.82%. Given The PNC Financial Services Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe The PNC Financial Services Group is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..
Dividends
The PNC Financial Services Group pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. The PNC Financial Services Group pays out 40.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 43.0% 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. The PNC Financial Services Group has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
80.6% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and First Financial Bancorp.'s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
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The PNC Financial Services Group | $21.62 billion | 2.99 | $5.37 billion | $11.39 | 13.40 |
First Financial Bancorp. | $738.95 million | 2.76 | $198.07 million | $2.14 | 9.71 |
The PNC Financial Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The PNC Financial Services Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and First Financial Bancorp.'s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
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The PNC Financial Services Group | 38.16% | 5.97% | 0.69% |
First Financial Bancorp. | 22.09% | 7.42% | 1.08% |
Summary
The PNC Financial Services Group beats First Financial Bancorp. on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.