Analyzing BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) & First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN)

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) and First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BOK Financial and First Financial Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BOK Financial	$3.48 billion	2.24	$523.57 million	$8.39	14.67
First Financial Bankshares	$752.91 million	6.00	$223.51 million	$1.69	18.68

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

34.4% of BOK Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.8% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 56.9% of BOK Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares BOK Financial and First Financial Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BOK Financial	15.98%	9.24%	1.07%
First Financial Bankshares	29.81%	14.16%	1.69%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for BOK Financial and First Financial Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BOK Financial	0	7	3	0	2.30
First Financial Bankshares	0	3	1	0	2.25

BOK Financial presently has a consensus target price of $117.91, suggesting a potential downside of 4.22%. First Financial Bankshares has a consensus target price of $38.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.37%. Given First Financial Bankshares’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Financial Bankshares is more favorable than BOK Financial.

Dividends

BOK Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. First Financial Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. BOK Financial pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bankshares pays out 45.0% 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. BOK Financial has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years and First Financial Bankshares has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

BOK Financial has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bankshares has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BOK Financial beats First Financial Bankshares on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BOK Financial

BOK Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for BOKF, NA that provides various financial products and services in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management. The Commercial Banking segment offers lending, treasury, cash management, and customer commodity risk management products for small businesses, middle market, and larger commercial customers, as well as operates TransFund electronic funds transfer network. The Consumer Banking segment engages in the provision of retail lending and deposit services to small business customers through retail branch network; and mortgage loan origination and servicing activities. The Wealth Management segment offers fiduciary, private bank, insurance, and investment advisory services; and brokerage and trading services primarily related to providing liquidity to the mortgage markets through trading of U.S. government agency mortgage-backed securities and related derivative contracts, as well as underwrites state and municipal securities. The company also provides commercial loans, such as loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchases of equipment, and other needs of commercial customers; and service, healthcare, manufacturing, wholesale/retail, energy, and other sector loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans for the construction of buildings or other improvements to real estate and property held by borrowers for investment purposes; residential mortgage and personal loans; and automated teller machine, call center, and Internet and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

About First Financial Bankshares

First Financial Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts. It also provides commercial and industrial, municipal, agricultural, construction and development, farm, residential, and consumer auto and non-auto, as well as non-owner occupied and owner occupied commercial real estate loans. In addition, the company offers advisory and specialized services related to asset management, investing, purchasing, advertising, public relations, and technology services. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Abilene, Texas.