Heritage Commerce (HTBK) Competitors

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) and Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, earnings and institutional ownership.

Is THFF or HTBK more profitable?

Heritage Commerce has a net margin of 22.84% compared to Heritage Commerce's net margin of 18.22%. Heritage Commerce's return on equity of 10.07% beat First Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial	18.22%	10.07%	1.06%
Heritage Commerce	22.84%	8.36%	1.05%

Is THFF or HTBK a better dividend stock?

First Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Heritage Commerce pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. First Financial pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Heritage Commerce pays out 56.5% 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.

Does the media favor THFF or HTBK?

In the previous week, Heritage Commerce had 2 more articles in the media than First Financial. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Heritage Commerce and 11 mentions for First Financial. Heritage Commerce's average media sentiment score of 0.66 beat First Financial's score of 0.57 indicating that First Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Heritage Commerce	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, THFF or HTBK?

Heritage Commerce has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Financial. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heritage Commerce, 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	$271.10M	2.02	$60.67M	$4.69	9.87
Heritage Commerce	$243.30M	2.68	$64.44M	$0.92	11.59

Which has more volatility and risk, THFF or HTBK?

First Financial has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heritage Commerce has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in THFF or HTBK?

72.7% of First Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.6% of Heritage Commerce shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Heritage Commerce shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate THFF or HTBK?

First Financial currently has a consensus price target of $45.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.81%. Heritage Commerce has a consensus price target of $11.13, suggesting a potential upside of 4.36%. Given First Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Heritage Commerce is more favorable than First Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Heritage Commerce	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer THFF or HTBK?

First Financial received 41 more outperform votes than Heritage Commerce when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.55% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 58.71% of users gave Heritage Commerce an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Financial	Outperform Votes 341 61.55%	Underperform Votes 213 38.45%
Heritage Commerce	Outperform Votes 300 58.71%	Underperform Votes 211 41.29%

Summary

Heritage Commerce beats First Financial on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.