First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB) Financial Review

Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

43.1% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mid Penn Bancorp	17.55%	8.82%	1.13%
First Financial Bancorp.	20.77%	11.13%	1.49%

Volatility and Risk

Mid Penn Bancorp has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Mid Penn Bancorp and First Financial Bancorp., as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mid Penn Bancorp	0	1	4	0	2.80
First Financial Bancorp.	0	2	5	0	2.71

Mid Penn Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $40.33, indicating a potential upside of 11.43%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus price target of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.68%. Given Mid Penn Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Mid Penn Bancorp is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Dividends

Mid Penn Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Mid Penn Bancorp pays out 32.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 36.7% 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. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Mid Penn Bancorp and First Financial Bancorp.”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mid Penn Bancorp	$350.61 million	2.61	$56.25 million	$2.83	12.79
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.26 billion	2.63	$255.60 million	$2.83	11.16

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

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats Mid Penn Bancorp on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mid Penn Bancorp

Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Mid Penn Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and corporations. The company offers various time and demand deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, clubs, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides a range of loan products comprising mortgage and home equity loans, secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans, lines of credit, construction financing, farm loans, community development loans, loans to non-profit entities, and local government loans. In addition, the company offers trust, retail investment, wealth management, and insurance services; and provides online banking, telephone banking, cash management, and automated teller services, as well as safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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.