NBT Bancorp (NBTB) Competitors

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

Is FFBC or NBTB a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. NBT Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NBT Bancorp pays out 53.4% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and NBT Bancorp has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer FFBC or NBTB?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 4 more articles in the media than NBT Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 3 mentions for NBT Bancorp. NBT Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.75 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 1.02 indicating that NBT Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NBT Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, FFBC or NBTB?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NBT Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, FFBC or NBTB?

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
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.53	$228.83M	$2.50	10.38
NBT Bancorp	$619.42M	3.66	$140.64M	$2.77	15.62

Is FFBC or NBTB 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
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%
NBT Bancorp	16.10%	9.81%	1.10%

Do analysts recommend FFBC or NBTB?

First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus target price of $29.40, suggesting a potential upside of 13.25%. NBT Bancorp has a consensus target price of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.15%. Given NBT Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NBT Bancorp is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

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

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of FFBC or NBTB?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.5% of NBT Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of NBT Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

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