Community Financial System (CBU) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, FFBC or CBU?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Financial System has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FFBC or CBU a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Community Financial System pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Financial System pays out 51.2% 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 raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Community Financial System has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is FFBC or CBU 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
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%
Community Financial System	19.91%	10.71%	1.17%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FFBC or CBU?

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
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.51	$228.83M	$2.50	10.22
Community Financial System	$780.73M	4.05	$182.48M	$3.67	16.28

Do institutionals and insiders believe in FFBC or CBU?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.8% of Community Financial System shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Community Financial System 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.

Do analysts prefer FFBC or CBU?

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus target price of $29.40, suggesting a potential upside of 15.07%. Community Financial System has a consensus target price of $68.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.79%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Community Financial System.

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

Does the media favor FFBC or CBU?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 2 more articles in the media than Community Financial System. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 4 mentions for Community Financial System. Community Financial System's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.87 indicating that Community Financial System 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)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Community Financial System	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Community Financial System on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.