First Financial (THFF) Competitors

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SBCF or THFF?

First Financial received 43 more outperform votes than Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.58% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 59.64% of users gave Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	Outperform Votes 300 59.64%	Underperform Votes 203 40.36%
First Financial	Outperform Votes 343 61.58%	Underperform Votes 214 38.42%

Which has more risk & volatility, SBCF or THFF?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer SBCF or THFF?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida currently has a consensus target price of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.55%. First Financial has a consensus target price of $55.67, indicating a potential upside of 14.35%. Given Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida is more favorable than First Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
First Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of SBCF or THFF?

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of First Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of First Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is SBCF or THFF a better dividend stock?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. First Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays out 50.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial pays out 51.0% 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 media favor SBCF or THFF?

In the previous week, Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida both had 7 articles in the media. First Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida's score of 0.90 indicating that First Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Financial	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SBCF or THFF?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida, 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
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	$515.40M	4.24	$120.99M	$1.43	17.85
First Financial	$217.76M	2.65	$47.28M	$4.00	12.17

Is SBCF or THFF more profitable?

First Financial has a net margin of 15.37% compared to Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida's net margin of 14.95%. First Financial's return on equity of 8.77% beat Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	14.95%	5.91%	0.85%
First Financial	15.37%	8.77%	0.93%

Summary

First Financial beats Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.