WASH vs. THFF, CCBG, CCNE, FMNB, HTBK, HBNC, CPF, MOFG, EBTC, and UVSP
Should you be buying Washington Trust Bancorp stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Washington Trust Bancorp include First Financial (THFF), Capital City Bank Group (CCBG), CNB Financial (CCNE), Farmers National Banc (FMNB), Heritage Commerce (HTBK), Horizon Bancorp (HBNC), Central Pacific Financial (CPF), MidWestOne Financial Group (MOFG), Enterprise Bancorp (EBTC), and Univest Financial (UVSP). These companies are all part of the "regional banks" industry.
Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) and First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and community ranking.
Washington Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.5%. First Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Washington Trust Bancorp pays out 82.7% 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 pays out 35.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
First Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Washington Trust Bancorp. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Washington Trust Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Washington Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.
First Financial has a net margin of 22.38% compared to Washington Trust Bancorp's net margin of 12.01%. First Financial's return on equity of 12.13% beat Washington Trust Bancorp's return on equity.
First Financial received 154 more outperform votes than Washington Trust Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.78% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 54.05% of users gave Washington Trust Bancorp an outperform vote.
In the previous week, Washington Trust Bancorp had 18 more articles in the media than First Financial. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Washington Trust Bancorp and 4 mentions for First Financial. Washington Trust Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.69 beat First Financial's score of 0.34 indicating that Washington Trust Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.
65.8% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of First Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of First Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
First Financial has a consensus price target of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.56%. Given First Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Financial is more favorable than Washington Trust Bancorp.
Summary
First Financial beats Washington Trust Bancorp on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding WASH and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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