United Bankshares (UBSI) Competitors

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

Is FFBC or UBSI more profitable?

United Bankshares has a net margin of 23.14% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 19.41%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.57% beat United Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%
United Bankshares	23.14%	7.65%	1.26%

Does the media prefer FFBC or UBSI?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 4 more articles in the media than United Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 3 mentions for United Bankshares. United Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.72 indicating that United Bankshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United Bankshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, FFBC or UBSI?

United Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Bankshares, 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	1.54	$228.83M	$2.50	10.43
United Bankshares	$1.63B	3.24	$373M	$2.83	13.14

Do analysts rate FFBC or UBSI?

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus price target of $29.80, indicating a potential upside of 14.31%. United Bankshares has a consensus price target of $40.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.90%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than United Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
United Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Which has more risk and volatility, FFBC or UBSI?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bankshares has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FFBC or UBSI a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. United Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bankshares pays out 52.3% 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 Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and United Bankshares has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years. United Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of United Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of United Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

United Bankshares beats First Financial Bancorp. on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.