Financial Analysis: First Financial Corporation Indiana (NASDAQ:THFF) versus Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

First Financial Corporation Indiana (NASDAQ:THFF) and Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

First Financial Corporation Indiana pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Huntington Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Financial Corporation Indiana pays out 32.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Huntington Bancshares pays out 43.4% 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 Corporation Indiana has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares First Financial Corporation Indiana and Huntington Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Corporation Indiana	21.70%	12.99%	1.33%
Huntington Bancshares	18.06%	12.14%	1.09%

Volatility and Risk

First Financial Corporation Indiana has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huntington Bancshares has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

72.7% of First Financial Corporation Indiana shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Financial Corporation Indiana shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Financial Corporation Indiana and Huntington Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Corporation Indiana	$253.11 million	2.61	$47.28 million	$6.24	8.92
Huntington Bancshares	$7.95 billion	2.82	$1.94 billion	$1.43	10.72

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for First Financial Corporation Indiana and Huntington Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Corporation Indiana	0	2	2	1	2.80
Huntington Bancshares	1	3	15	3	2.91

First Financial Corporation Indiana presently has a consensus target price of $58.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.18%. Huntington Bancshares has a consensus target price of $19.66, indicating a potential upside of 28.25%. Given Huntington Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Huntington Bancshares is more favorable than First Financial Corporation Indiana.

Summary

Huntington Bancshares beats First Financial Corporation Indiana on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Financial Corporation Indiana

First Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services. The company offers non-interest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand, savings, time, and other time deposits. It also provides commercial loans primarily to expand a business or finance asset purchases; residential real estate and residential real estate construction loans; and home equity loans and lines, secured loans, and cash/CD secured and unsecured loans. In addition, the company offers lease financing, trust account, depositor, and insurance services. The company was founded in 1834 and is headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services. It also provides 24-hour grace, asterisk-free checking, money scout, $50 safety zone, standby cash, early pay, instant access, savings goal getter, and Huntington heads up; digitally powered consumer and business financial solutions to consumer lending, regional banking, branch banking, and wealth management customers; direct and indirect consumer loans, as well as dealer finance loans and deposits; and private banking, wealth management and legacy planning through investment and portfolio management, fiduciary administration and trust, institutional custody, and full-service retail brokerage investment services. The company offers equipment financing, asset-based lending, distribution finance, structured lending, and municipal financing solutions, as well as Huntington ChoicePay. In addition, it offers lending, liquidity, treasury management and other payment services, and capital markets; government and non-profits, healthcare, technology and telecommunications, franchises, financial sponsors, and global services; and corporate risk management, institutional sales and trading, debt and equity issuance, and additional advisory services. The company offers its products through a network of channels, including branches and ATMs, online and mobile banking, and through customer call centers to customers in middle market banking, corporate, specialty, and government banking, asset finance, commercial real estate banking, and capital markets. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.