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 business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, media sentiment, dividends and valuation.

Which has more volatility & risk, CBU or FFBC?

Community Financial System has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CBU or FFBC?

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 endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has stronger 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	3.37	$182.48M	$3.61	16.63
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.53	$228.83M	$2.41	10.72

Do analysts rate CBU or FFBC?

Community Financial System currently has a consensus target price of $71.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.29%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $28.75, indicating a potential upside of 11.26%. Given Community Financial System's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly 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)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is CBU or FFBC more profitable?

Community Financial System has a net margin of 19.89% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 18.65%. Community Financial System's return on equity of 10.98% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Financial System	19.89%	10.98%	1.18%
First Financial Bancorp.	18.65%	10.44%	1.38%

Does the media prefer CBU or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 5 more articles in the media than Community Financial System. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 5 mentions for Community Financial System. Community Financial System's average media sentiment score of 0.74 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.21 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	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

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 3.7%. Community Financial System pays out 51.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% 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.

Summary

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