CBU vs. FFBC, NBTB, NWBI, RNST, STBA, TOWN, TRMK, UBSI, FCF, and TMP
Should you be buying Community Financial System stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Community Financial System include First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), NBT Bancorp (NBTB), Northwest Bancshares (NWBI), Renasant (RNST), S&T Bancorp (STBA), Towne Bank (TOWN), Trustmark (TRMK), United Bankshares (UBSI), First Commonwealth Financial (FCF), and Tompkins Financial (TMP). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
Community Financial System vs. Its Competitors
Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.
Community Financial System has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Community Financial System has a net margin of 19.91% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 19.41%. Community Financial System's return on equity of 10.71% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.
In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 12 more articles in the media than Community Financial System. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 0 mentions for Community Financial System. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat Community Financial System's score of 0.00 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
73.8% of Community Financial System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Community Financial System shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Community Financial System pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Community Financial System pays out 51.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% 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. Community Financial System has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years and First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than Community Financial System. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Community Financial System, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Community Financial System currently has a consensus target price of $68.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.94%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $29.83, indicating a potential upside of 15.41%. Given Community Financial System's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Community Financial System is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..
Summary
First Financial Bancorp. beats Community Financial System on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get Community Financial System News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for CBU and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding CBU and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE 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.
Community Financial System Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools
This page (NYSE:CBU) was last updated on 10/8/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
