First Financial (THFF) Competitors

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) and First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, media sentiment, valuation and community ranking.

Do analysts rate NBTB or THFF?

NBT Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $51.75, indicating a potential upside of 8.65%. First Financial has a consensus price target of $49.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.72%. Given NBT Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NBT Bancorp is more favorable than First Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NBT Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
First Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NBTB or THFF?

First Financial received 110 more outperform votes than NBT Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.62% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 52.37% of users gave NBT Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NBT Bancorp	Outperform Votes 232 52.37%	Underperform Votes 211 47.63%
First Financial	Outperform Votes 342 61.62%	Underperform Votes 213 38.38%

Is NBTB or THFF a better dividend stock?

NBT Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. First Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. NBT Bancorp pays out 45.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial pays out 55.3% 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. NBT Bancorp has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility and risk, NBTB or THFF?

NBT Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NBTB or THFF more profitable?

NBT Bancorp has a net margin of 17.84% compared to First Financial's net margin of 14.86%. NBT Bancorp's return on equity of 9.39% beat First Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NBT Bancorp	17.84%	9.39%	1.02%
First Financial	14.86%	8.10%	0.87%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in NBTB or THFF?

58.5% of NBT Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of First Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of NBT Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of First Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to NBTB or THFF?

In the previous week, NBT Bancorp had 18 more articles in the media than First Financial. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for NBT Bancorp and 5 mentions for First Financial. First Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.72 beat NBT Bancorp's score of 0.36 indicating that First Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NBT Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, NBTB or THFF?

NBT Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NBT Bancorp, 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
NBT Bancorp	$788.49M	2.85	$118.78M	$2.96	16.09
First Financial	$174.99M	3.25	$60.67M	$3.69	13.06

Summary

NBT Bancorp beats First Financial on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.