Community Financial System (CBU) Competitors

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Is CBU or FFBC a better dividend stock?

Community Financial System pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Community Financial System pays out 50.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 38.4% 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.

Does the media prefer CBU or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 8 more articles in the media than Community Financial System. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 4 mentions for Community Financial System. Community Financial System's average media sentiment score of 1.58 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.93 indicating that Community Financial System is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Community Financial System	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
First Financial Bancorp.	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CBU or FFBC more profitable?

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.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Financial System	19.91%	10.71%	1.17%
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%

Which has better earnings & valuation, CBU or FFBC?

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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Financial System	$940.71M	3.39	$182.48M	$3.67	16.43
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.57	$228.83M	$2.50	10.62

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

73.8% of Community Financial System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Community Financial System shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend CBU or FFBC?

Community Financial System presently has a consensus target price of $68.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.78%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $29.40, suggesting a potential upside of 10.73%. Given Community Financial System's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Community Financial System is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Financial System	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has more risk and volatility, CBU or FFBC?

Community Financial System has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Community Financial System and First Financial Bancorp. tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.