First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) and Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) Critical Comparison

Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) and First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Atlantic Union Bankshares and First Foundation”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlantic Union Bankshares	$1.37 billion	4.08	$209.13 million	$2.04	19.17
First Foundation	$190.67 million	2.68	-$92.41 million	($1.89)	-3.26

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

Volatility and Risk

Atlantic Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Foundation has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.6% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.1% of First Foundation shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.5% of First Foundation shares are held by company 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Atlantic Union Bankshares and First Foundation, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlantic Union Bankshares	0	3	6	1	2.80
First Foundation	0	1	3	0	2.75

Atlantic Union Bankshares presently has a consensus target price of $42.55, indicating a potential upside of 8.80%. First Foundation has a consensus target price of $6.58, indicating a potential upside of 6.79%. Given Atlantic Union Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Atlantic Union Bankshares is more favorable than First Foundation.

Dividends

Atlantic Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. First Foundation pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays out 72.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Foundation pays out -2.1% 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. Atlantic Union Bankshares has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Atlantic Union Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Atlantic Union Bankshares and First Foundation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlantic Union Bankshares	15.53%	8.50%	1.06%
First Foundation	-13.94%	-0.73%	-0.05%

Summary

Atlantic Union Bankshares beats First Foundation on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services. It also provides loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage, and consumer purposes, as well as debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides treasury management and capital market, wealth management, private banking, trust, financial and retirement planning, brokerage, investment management, equipment finance, mortgage banking, and insurance products and services. The company offers products and services through full-service branches and ATMs, as well as through its mobile and internet banking. The company was formerly known as Union Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation in May 2019. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

About First Foundation

First Foundation Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides banking services, investment advisory, wealth management, and trust services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Wealth Management. It offers a range of deposit products, including personal and business checking accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, money market accounts, and time certificate of deposits; and loan products consisting of multifamily and single family residential real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, commercial term loans, and line of credits, as well as consumer loans, such as personal installment loans and line of credits, and home equity line of credits. The company also provides various specialized services comprising trust services, online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture services, merchant credit card services, ATM cards, Visa debit cards, and business sweep accounts, as well as insurance brokerage services and equipment financing solutions. In addition, it offers investment management and financial planning services; financial, investment, and economic advisory and related services; and treasury management services, such as bill pay, check/payee/ACH positive pay, wire origination, internal and external transfers, account reconciliation reporting, mobile deposit, lockbox, cash vault services and merchant processing. Further, the company provides support services, including the processing and transmission of financial and economic data for charitable organizations. It operates through a network of branch offices and loan production offices. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.