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

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%

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 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. 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.

Does the media favor CBU or FFBC?

In the previous week, Community Financial System and Community Financial System both had 2 articles in the media. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 1.89 beat Community Financial System's score of 1.36 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Community Financial System	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 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)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, CBU or FFBC?

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

Which has better earnings and 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	3.27	$182.48M	$3.61	16.10
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.50	$228.83M	$2.41	10.56

Do institutionals & insiders 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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend CBU or FFBC?

Community Financial System currently has a consensus target price of $71.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.17%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $28.75, indicating a potential upside of 12.97%. Given Community Financial System's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research 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

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Community Financial System on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.