TowneBank (TOWN) Competitors

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) and First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, community ranking, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer TOWN or FHN?

First Horizon received 303 more outperform votes than TowneBank when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 54.91% of users gave TowneBank an outperform vote while only 54.55% of users gave First Horizon an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
TowneBank	Outperform Votes 207 54.91%	Underperform Votes 170 45.09%
First Horizon	Outperform Votes 510 54.55%	Underperform Votes 425 45.45%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in TOWN or FHN?

56.0% of TowneBank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.3% of First Horizon shares are held by institutional investors. 8.1% of TowneBank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of First Horizon shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is TOWN or FHN more profitable?

TowneBank has a net margin of 15.77% compared to First Horizon's net margin of 15.38%. First Horizon's return on equity of 10.10% beat TowneBank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TowneBank	15.77%	7.77%	0.96%
First Horizon	15.38%	10.10%	1.07%

Is TOWN or FHN a better dividend stock?

TowneBank pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. TowneBank pays out 46.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Horizon pays out 44.1% 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. TowneBank has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. First Horizon is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer TOWN or FHN?

TowneBank presently has a consensus target price of $39.67, indicating a potential upside of 25.97%. First Horizon has a consensus target price of $22.30, indicating a potential upside of 29.28%. Given First Horizon's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Horizon is more favorable than TowneBank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TowneBank	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
First Horizon	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Does the media favor TOWN or FHN?

In the previous week, First Horizon had 17 more articles in the media than TowneBank. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for First Horizon and 7 mentions for TowneBank. TowneBank's average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat First Horizon's score of 0.81 indicating that TowneBank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
TowneBank	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Horizon	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, TOWN or FHN?

TowneBank has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Horizon has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, TOWN or FHN?

First Horizon has higher revenue and earnings than TowneBank. First Horizon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TowneBank, 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
TowneBank	$692.51M	3.41	$161.76M	$2.15	14.65
First Horizon	$3.10B	2.86	$775M	$1.36	12.68

Summary

First Horizon beats TowneBank on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.