First Financial (THFF) Competitors

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) and Luther Burbank (NASDAQ:LBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, risk, community ranking, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Does the media refer more to THFF or LBC?

In the previous week, First Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.67 beat Luther Burbank's score of 0.00 indicating that First Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
First Financial	Very Positive
Luther Burbank	Neutral

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of THFF or LBC?

72.7% of First Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.0% of Luther Burbank shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.2% of Luther Burbank shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate THFF or LBC?

First Financial presently has a consensus price target of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.98%. Luther Burbank has a consensus price target of $12.50, suggesting a potential upside of 36.61%. Given Luther Burbank's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Luther Burbank is more favorable than First Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Luther Burbank	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, THFF or LBC?

Luther Burbank has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Financial. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Luther Burbank, 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	$271.10M	1.57	$60.67M	$4.69	7.71
Luther Burbank	$123.27M	3.79	$80.20M	$0.71	12.89

Is THFF or LBC more profitable?

First Financial has a net margin of 20.16% compared to Luther Burbank's net margin of 10.43%. First Financial's return on equity of 11.04% beat Luther Burbank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial	20.16%	11.04%	1.15%
Luther Burbank	10.43%	5.19%	0.44%

Is THFF or LBC a better dividend stock?

First Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Luther Burbank pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. First Financial pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Luther Burbank pays out 67.6% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer THFF or LBC?

First Financial received 210 more outperform votes than Luther Burbank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.66% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 56.47% of users gave Luther Burbank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Financial	Outperform Votes 341 61.66%	Underperform Votes 212 38.34%
Luther Burbank	Outperform Votes 131 56.47%	Underperform Votes 101 43.53%

Which has more volatility & risk, THFF or LBC?

First Financial has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Luther Burbank has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Financial beats Luther Burbank on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.