First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) and Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Head-To-Head Analysis

First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) and Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for First Hawaiian and Washington Trust Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Hawaiian	2	2	0	0	1.50
Washington Trust Bancorp	1	1	0	0	1.50

First Hawaiian presently has a consensus target price of $22.33, suggesting a potential upside of 6.60%. Given First Hawaiian’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than Washington Trust Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

First Hawaiian has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Washington Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.5% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Washington Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.1%. First Hawaiian pays out 56.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Washington Trust Bancorp pays out 79.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares First Hawaiian and Washington Trust Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Hawaiian	20.90%	9.87%	0.95%
Washington Trust Bancorp	13.19%	10.53%	0.68%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Hawaiian and Washington Trust Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Hawaiian	$1.12 billion	2.38	$234.98 million	$1.84	11.39
Washington Trust Bancorp	$364.80 million	1.15	$48.18 million	$2.81	8.73

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

Summary

First Hawaiian beats Washington Trust Bancorp on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company accepts various deposit products, include checking and savings accounts, and other deposit accounts. It also provides residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and loans, automobile loans and leases, secured and unsecured lines of credit, installment loans, and small business loans and leases, as well as commercial lease and auto dealer financing. In addition, the company offers personal installment, individual investment and financial planning, insurance protection, trust and estate, private banking, retirement planning, commercial credit cards, and merchant processing services, as well as consumer and commercial credit cards. The company was formerly known as BancWest Corporation and changed its name to First Hawaiian, Inc. in April 2016. First Hawaiian, Inc. was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

About Washington Trust Bancorp

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Washington Trust Company, of Westerly that provides various banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. The company operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management Services. The Commercial Banking segment offers deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand deposits, NOW and savings accounts, money market and retirement deposit accounts, and time deposits; various commercial and retail lending products, such as commercial real estate loans, including commercial mortgages, and construction and development loans; commercial and industrial loans comprising working capital, equipment financing, and financing for other business-related purposes; residential real estate loans that consist of mortgage and homeowner construction loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines of credit, personal installment loans, and loans to individuals secured by general aviation aircraft. This segment also provides debit cards; automated teller machines (ATMs); telephone banking, internet banking, mobile banking, remote deposit capture, and other cash management services; and investment portfolio and wholesale funding services. The Wealth Management Services segment offers investment management; financial planning; personal trust and estate services, such as trustee, personal representative, custodian, and guardian; and settlement of decedents' estates, as well as institutional trust services comprising custody and fiduciary services for personal and institutional clients. Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1800 and is headquartered in Westerly, Rhode Island.