Northwest Bancshares (NWBI) Competitors

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

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

66.3% of Northwest Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Northwest Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned 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.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, NWBI or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than Northwest Bancshares. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Northwest Bancshares, 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
Northwest Bancshares	$756.21M	2.28	$100.28M	$0.90	14.98
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.52	$228.83M	$2.41	10.67

Does the media favor NWBI or FFBC?

In the previous week, Northwest Bancshares and Northwest Bancshares both had 3 articles in the media. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.34 beat Northwest Bancshares' score of 0.21 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northwest Bancshares	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is NWBI or FFBC a better dividend stock?

Northwest Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Northwest Bancshares pays out 88.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility and risk, NWBI or FFBC?

Northwest Bancshares has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate NWBI or FFBC?

Northwest Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.28%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $28.75, suggesting a potential upside of 11.78%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Northwest Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northwest Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is NWBI or FFBC more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 18.65% compared to Northwest Bancshares' net margin of 14.75%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.44% beat Northwest Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northwest Bancshares	14.75%	9.24%	1.02%
First Financial Bancorp.	18.65%	10.44%	1.38%

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Northwest Bancshares on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.