Community Financial System (CBU) Competitors

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Is FFBC or CBU a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Community Financial System pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Financial System pays out 51.2% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Community Financial System has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk and volatility, FFBC or CBU?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Financial System has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, FFBC or CBU?

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
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.40	$228.83M	$2.50	9.46
Community Financial System	$780.73M	3.48	$182.48M	$3.67	13.99

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in FFBC or CBU?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.8% of Community Financial System shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Community Financial System shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is FFBC or CBU more profitable?

Community Financial System has a net margin of 19.91% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 19.41%. Community Financial System's return on equity of 10.71% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%
Community Financial System	19.91%	10.71%	1.17%

Does the media favor FFBC or CBU?

In the previous week, Community Financial System had 3 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Community Financial System and 6 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Community Financial System's score of 0.17 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Community Financial System	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend FFBC or CBU?

First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus target price of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.67%. Community Financial System has a consensus target price of $68.00, indicating a potential upside of 32.42%. Given Community Financial System's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Community Financial System is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Community Financial System	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. and Community Financial System tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.