Comparing Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) and First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK)

First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) and Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Interstate BancSystem and Huntington Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Interstate BancSystem	$1.48 billion	2.31	$226.00 million	$2.22	14.66
Huntington Bancshares	$11.96 billion	2.12	$1.94 billion	$1.35	12.90

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

Dividends

First Interstate BancSystem pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Huntington Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Interstate BancSystem pays out 84.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Huntington Bancshares pays out 45.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk & Volatility

First Interstate BancSystem has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huntington Bancshares has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.7% of First Interstate BancSystem shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 8.2% of First Interstate BancSystem shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by company 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 Interstate BancSystem and Huntington Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Interstate BancSystem	16.04%	6.82%	0.80%
Huntington Bancshares	17.36%	11.81%	1.06%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for First Interstate BancSystem and Huntington Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Interstate BancSystem	1	2	3	0	2.33
Huntington Bancshares	1	3	15	2	2.86

First Interstate BancSystem currently has a consensus price target of $34.86, suggesting a potential upside of 7.09%. Huntington Bancshares has a consensus price target of $18.89, suggesting a potential upside of 8.47%. Given Huntington Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Huntington Bancshares is more favorable than First Interstate BancSystem.

Summary

Huntington Bancshares beats First Interstate BancSystem on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Interstate BancSystem

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides range of banking products and services in the United States. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, and time deposits; and repurchase agreements primarily for commercial and municipal depositors. The company also offers real estate loans comprising commercial real estate, construction, residential, agricultural, and other real estate loans; consumer loans comprising direct personal loans, credit card loans and lines of credit, and indirect loans; variable and fixed rate commercial loans for small and medium-sized manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and service businesses for working capital needs and business expansions; and agricultural loans. In addition, it provides a range of trust, employee benefit, investment management, insurance, agency, and custodial services to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Further, the company offers marketing, credit review, loan servicing, credit cards issuance and servicing, mortgage loan sales and servicing, indirect consumer loan purchasing and processing, loan collection services, other operational, and specialized staff support services, as well as online and mobile banking services. The company serves individuals, businesses, municipalities, and other entities in various industries, including agriculture, construction, education, governmental services, healthcare, hospitality, housing, professional services, real estate development, retail, technology, tourism, and wholesale trade. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Billings, Montana.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services. It also provides 24-hour grace, asterisk-free checking, money scout, $50 safety zone, standby cash, early pay, instant access, savings goal getter, and Huntington heads up; digitally powered consumer and business financial solutions to consumer lending, regional banking, branch banking, and wealth management customers; direct and indirect consumer loans, as well as dealer finance loans and deposits; and private banking, wealth management and legacy planning through investment and portfolio management, fiduciary administration and trust, institutional custody, and full-service retail brokerage investment services. The company offers equipment financing, asset-based lending, distribution finance, structured lending, and municipal financing solutions, as well as Huntington ChoicePay. In addition, it offers lending, liquidity, treasury management and other payment services, and capital markets; government and non-profits, healthcare, technology and telecommunications, franchises, financial sponsors, and global services; and corporate risk management, institutional sales and trading, debt and equity issuance, and additional advisory services. The company offers its products through a network of channels, including branches and ATMs, online and mobile banking, and through customer call centers to customers in middle market banking, corporate, specialty, and government banking, asset finance, commercial real estate banking, and capital markets. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.