Comparing FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) & First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF)

First Financial (NASDAQ:THFF) and FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

First Financial has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FB Financial has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

First Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. FB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. First Financial pays out 44.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FB Financial pays out 27.9% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Financial and FB Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial	$231.89 million	2.59	$47.28 million	$4.62	10.97
FB Financial	$480.96 million	4.34	$116.04 million	$2.72	16.44

FB Financial has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FB Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

72.7% of First Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.4% of FB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of FB Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares First Financial and FB Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial	15.37%	8.77%	0.93%
FB Financial	15.18%	10.43%	1.25%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for First Financial and FB Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial	0	1	2	0	2.67
FB Financial	1	1	3	0	2.40

First Financial currently has a consensus price target of $55.67, suggesting a potential upside of 9.84%. FB Financial has a consensus price target of $53.80, suggesting a potential upside of 20.28%. Given FB Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FB Financial is more favorable than First Financial.

Summary

FB Financial beats First Financial on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Financial

First Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services. The company offers non-interest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand, savings, time, and other time deposits. It also provides commercial loans primarily to expand a business or finance asset purchases; residential real estate and residential real estate construction loans; and home equity loans and lines, secured loans, and cash/CD secured and unsecured loans. In addition, the company offers lease financing, trust account, depositor, and insurance services. The company was founded in 1834 and is headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana.

About FB Financial

FB Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank that provides a suite of commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, professionals, and individuals. The company operates in segments, such as Banking and Mortgage. It offers checking, demand, money market, and savings accounts; deposit and lending products and services to corporate, commercial, and consumer customers; and time deposits and certificates of deposits, as well as residential mortgage loans. The company also provides owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied real estate commercial, residential real estate 1-4 family mortgage, multi-family residential, commercial and industrial, construction, land acquisition, residential lines of credit, and land development loans; and consumer and other loans, such as car, boat, and other recreational vehicle loans, as well as manufactured homes without real estate and personal lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mortgage banking services through its bank branch network and mortgage banking offices in the southeastern United States; direct-to-consumer internet delivery channel; and trust, insurance, and investment services, as well as online and mobile banking services. The company operates full-service bank branches and limited-service branches locations throughout Tennessee, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Jackson, Birmingham, Florence, Huntsville, Alabama, Bowling Green, and Kentucky; and mortgage offices throughout the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as First South Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to FB Financial Corporation in 2016. FB Financial Corporation was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.