Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) versus First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Head to Head Survey

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Commerce Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Commerce Bancshares pays out 26.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% 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. Commerce Bancshares has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years and First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.3% of Commerce Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Commerce Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commerce Bancshares	$2.09 billion	3.77	$526.33 million	$4.20	14.04
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62 billion	1.53	$228.83 million	$2.50	10.34

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commerce Bancshares	26.37%	16.01%	1.74%
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Commerce Bancshares and First Financial Bancorp., as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerce Bancshares	1	8	1	0	2.00
First Financial Bancorp.	0	3	4	0	2.57

Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $68.43, indicating a potential upside of 16.08%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus price target of $29.83, indicating a potential upside of 15.41%. Given Commerce Bancshares’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Commerce Bancshares is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Summary

Commerce Bancshares beats First Financial Bancorp. on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Commerce Bank that provides retail, mortgage banking, corporate, investment, trust, and asset management products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Wealth. The Consumer segment offers various banking products and services, including consumer deposits; consumer loans, such as automobile, motorcycle, marine, tractor/trailer, recreational vehicle, fixed rate and revolving home equity, and other consumer loans; patient health care financing; real estate loans; indirect and other consumer financing; retail branch network; personal mortgage banking; consumer installment lending; and consumer debit and credit bank cards. The Commercial segment provides corporate lending, leasing, international, merchant and commercial bank card, and securities safekeeping and bond accounting services; and business products, government deposits, and related commercial cash management services, as well as sells fixed income securities to correspondent banks, corporations, public institutions, municipalities, and individuals. The Wealth segment provides traditional trust and estate planning, advisory and discretionary investment portfolio management, and brokerage services, as well as private banking accounts. The company also offers private equity investment, securities brokerage, insurance agency, specialty lending, and leasing services, as well as online and mobile banking services. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers. It also provides real estate loans secured by residential property, such as one to four family residential housing units or commercial property comprising owner-occupied and/or investor income producing real estate consisting of apartments, shopping centers, and office buildings; commercial and industrial loans for various purposes, including inventory, receivables, and equipment, as well as equipment and leasehold improvement financing for franchisees; consumer loans comprising new and used vehicle loans, second mortgages on residential real estate, and unsecured loans; and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers commercial financing to the insurance industry, registered investment advisors, certified public accountants, indirect auto finance companies, and restaurant franchisees. Further, it provides a range of trust and wealth management services; lease and equipment financing services; and currency payments, foreign exchange hedging, and other advisory products. First Financial Bancorp. was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.