Southside Bancshares (SBSI) Competitors

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Is FFBC or SBSI more profitable?

Southside Bancshares has a net margin of 19.40% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 18.65%. Southside Bancshares' return on equity of 11.10% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	18.65%	10.44%	1.38%
Southside Bancshares	19.40%	11.10%	1.06%

Which has more volatility & risk, FFBC or SBSI?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FFBC or SBSI a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southside Bancshares pays out 49.5% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Southside Bancshares has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Southside Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in FFBC or SBSI?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor FFBC or SBSI?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 8 more articles in the media than Southside Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 4 mentions for Southside Bancshares. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.43 beat Southside Bancshares' score of 0.31 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Southside Bancshares	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has higher valuation & earnings, FFBC or SBSI?

First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than Southside Bancshares. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southside 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
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.51	$228.83M	$2.41	10.57
Southside Bancshares	$258.81M	3.60	$88.49M	$2.91	10.59

Do analysts prefer FFBC or SBSI?

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus price target of $28.75, suggesting a potential upside of 12.91%. Southside Bancshares has a consensus price target of $37.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.01%. Given Southside Bancshares' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Southside Bancshares 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)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Southside Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Southside Bancshares on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.