NBT Bancorp (NBTB) Competitors

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

Is NBTB or FFBC more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 19.41% compared to NBT Bancorp's net margin of 16.10%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.57% beat NBT Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NBT Bancorp	16.10%	9.81%	1.10%
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%

Do analysts recommend NBTB or FFBC?

NBT Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $52.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.86%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus price target of $29.40, indicating a potential upside of 10.73%. Given NBT Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NBT Bancorp is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NBT Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

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

58.5% of NBT Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of NBT Bancorp 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, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, NBTB or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than NBT Bancorp. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NBT Bancorp, 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
NBT Bancorp	$788.49M	2.98	$140.64M	$2.77	16.20
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.57	$228.83M	$2.50	10.62

Does the media favor NBTB or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 6 more articles in the media than NBT Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 6 mentions for NBT Bancorp. NBT Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.93 indicating that NBT Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NBT Bancorp	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Financial Bancorp.	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NBTB or FFBC a better dividend stock?

NBT Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. NBT Bancorp pays out 49.1% 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. NBT Bancorp has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility and risk, NBTB or FFBC?

NBT Bancorp 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 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats NBT Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.