Head to Head Review: Community Heritage Financial (OTCMKTS:CMHF) & First Bancorp, Inc (ME) (NASDAQ:FNLC)

Institutional and Insider Ownership

40.4% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.2% of Community Heritage Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares First Bancorp, Inc (ME) and Community Heritage Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	16.60%	11.09%	0.89%
Community Heritage Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Heritage Financial has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Community Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays out 59.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Heritage Financial pays out 13.2% 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 Bancorp, Inc (ME) has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Bancorp, Inc (ME) and Community Heritage Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	$165.19 million	1.72	$27.05 million	$2.51	10.14
Community Heritage Financial	$57.30 million	1.30	$7.09 million	$2.42	10.54

First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has higher revenue and earnings than Community Heritage Financial. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Community Heritage Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

First Bancorp, Inc (ME) beats Community Heritage Financial on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Bancorp, Inc (ME)

The First Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for First National Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to individuals and businesses. It offers various deposit products, including demand, NOW, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides commercial loans comprising commercial real estate owner occupied, such as mortgage loans to finance investments in real property such as retail space, offices, industrial buildings, hotels, educational facilities, and other specific or mixed use properties; commercial real estate non-owner occupied loans; commercial construction to finance construction in a mix of owner- and nonowner occupied commercial real estate properties; and commercial and industrial loans, including revolving and term loan for financing working capital and/or capital investment. In addition, it offers commercial multifamily loans; residential real estate term and residential real estate construction loans; loans to municipalities in Maine for capitalized expenditures, construction projects, or tax anticipation notes; home equity revolving and term loans; and personal lines of credit and amortizing loans for various purposes, such as autos, recreational vehicles, debt consolidation, personal expenses, or overdraft protection. Further, the company offers private banking, financial planning, investment management, and trust services to individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations and municipalities; and brokerage, annuity, and various insurance products, as well as payment processing services. It operates through full-service banking offices in Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, Penobscot, Hancock, and Washington counties in the Mid-Coast, Eastern, and Down East regions of Maine. The company was formerly known as First National Lincoln Corporation and changed its name to The First Bancorp, Inc. in April 2008. The First Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1864 and is based in Damariscotta, Maine.

About Community Heritage Financial

Community Heritage Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Middletown Valley Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Its primary deposit products include demand, savings, and time deposits, as well as lending products comprise real estate mortgages, commercial business loans, and instalment loans. The company also offers mortgage financing, new home purchases, refinancing, and construction lending in Middletown, Crofton, and Oakland, Maryland. The company was founded in 1908 and is based in Middletown, Maryland.