First Financial (THFF) Competitors

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, community ranking, earnings, profitability and media sentiment.

Do analysts recommend THFF or SFNC?

First Financial presently has a consensus price target of $55.67, indicating a potential upside of 8.68%. Simmons First National has a consensus price target of $22.33, indicating a potential upside of 21.77%. Given Simmons First National's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Simmons First National 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)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Simmons First National	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, THFF or SFNC?

Simmons First National has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simmons First National, 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	$231.89M	2.62	$47.28M	$4.62	11.09
Simmons First National	$777.54M	2.97	$152.69M	$1.16	15.81

Which has more volatility & risk, THFF or SFNC?

First Financial has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is THFF or SFNC a better dividend stock?

First Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. First Financial pays out 44.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National pays out 73.3% 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 has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Simmons First National has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Simmons First National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in THFF or SFNC?

First Financial received 73 more outperform votes than Simmons First National when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.61% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 47.64% of users gave Simmons First National an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Financial	Outperform Votes 345 61.61%	Underperform Votes 215 38.39%
Simmons First National	Outperform Votes 272 47.64%	Underperform Votes 299 52.36%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in THFF or SFNC?

72.7% of First Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of First Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Simmons First National 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.

Is THFF or SFNC more profitable?

First Financial has a net margin of 15.37% compared to Simmons First National's net margin of 10.46%. First Financial's return on equity of 8.77% beat Simmons First National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial	15.37%	8.77%	0.93%
Simmons First National	10.46%	5.10%	0.65%

Does the media refer more to THFF or SFNC?

In the previous week, First Financial and First Financial both had 2 articles in the media. Simmons First National's average media sentiment score of 1.72 beat First Financial's score of 1.43 indicating that Simmons First National is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
First Financial	Positive
Simmons First National	Very Positive

Summary

First Financial beats Simmons First National on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.