Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) & First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Head to Head Analysis

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for First Financial Bancorp. and Dime Community Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0	2	5	0	2.71
Dime Community Bancshares	0	2	4	0	2.67

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.07%. Dime Community Bancshares has a consensus price target of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 8.66%. Given Dime Community Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Dime Community Bancshares is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Bancorp.	$996.38 million	3.44	$255.60 million	$2.85	11.46
Dime Community Bancshares	$489.44 million	3.78	$110.68 million	$3.08	13.60

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	20.77%	11.13%	1.49%
Dime Community Bancshares	15.15%	9.12%	0.83%

Volatility & Risk

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dime Community Bancshares has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.3% of Dime Community Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Dime Community Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Dime Community Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 36.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Dime Community Bancshares pays out 32.5% 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 Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Dime Community Bancshares has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Dime Community Bancshares on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that engages in the provision of various commercial banking and financial services. The company accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. It also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; letters of credit; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; lines of credit; home equity loans; and construction and land loans. In addition, the company invests in Federal Home Loan Bank, Federal National Mortgage Association, Government National Mortgage Association, and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, and other asset backed securities; U.S. Treasury securities; New York state and local municipal obligations; U.S. government-sponsored enterprise securities; and corporate bonds. Further, it offers certificate of deposit account registry services and insured cash sweep programs; federal deposit insurance corporation insurance; merchant credit and debit card processing, automated teller machines, cash management services, lockbox processing, online banking services, remote deposit capture, safe deposit boxes, and individual retirement accounts; investment products and services through a third-party broker dealer; and title insurance broker services for small and medium sized businesses, and municipal and consumer relationships. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.