Reviewing BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) and First Horizon (NYSE:FHN)

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) and First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BancFirst and First Horizon”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BancFirst	$704.78 million	5.30	$240.61 million	$7.30	15.25
First Horizon	$5.00 billion	2.30	$982.00 million	$2.00	12.13

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

Risk & Volatility

BancFirst has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Horizon has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for BancFirst and First Horizon, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BancFirst	0	3	1	0	2.25
First Horizon	1	11	9	0	2.38

BancFirst currently has a consensus price target of $124.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.40%. First Horizon has a consensus price target of $26.45, indicating a potential upside of 9.02%. Given BancFirst’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe BancFirst is more favorable than First Horizon.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.7% of BancFirst shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.3% of First Horizon shares are held by institutional investors. 31.7% of BancFirst shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of First Horizon shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares BancFirst and First Horizon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BancFirst	25.50%	13.62%	1.70%
First Horizon	20.54%	11.65%	1.23%

Dividends

BancFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. BancFirst pays out 26.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Horizon pays out 34.0% 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. BancFirst has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Summary

BancFirst beats First Horizon on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments. It offers checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, sweep accounts, club accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as overdraft protection and auto draft services. The company also provides commercial and agricultural non-real estate loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchase of equipment, and other needs; lending services that include private banking, energy, commercial and residential real estate, and commercial and industrial loans; and loans to finance purchases of consumer goods, such as automobiles, boats, household goods, vacations, and education. In addition, it engages in the investment management and administration of trusts for individuals, corporations, and employee benefit plans, as well as bond trustee and paying agent business for various Oklahoma municipalities and governmental entities; and provision of item processing, research, and other correspondent banking services to financial institutions and governmental units. Further, the company provides insurance agency services; depository and funds transfer, collection, safe deposit box, cash management, and other services. It serves customers in non-metropolitan trade centers and cities in the metropolitan statistical areas of Oklahoma. The company was formerly known as United Community Corporation and changed its name to BancFirst Corporation in November 1988. BancFirst Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

About First Horizon

First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through Regional Banking and Specialty Banking segments. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also accepts deposits; provides underwriting services for bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; financial planning; and offers investment and financial advisory services. In addition, it offers mortgage banking; loan syndications; brokerage services; commercial and business banking for business enterprises, consumer banking, and private client and wealth management services; capital markets, professional commercial real estate, mortgage warehouse and asset-based lending, franchise and equipment finance, tax credit finance, energy and healthcare finance, asset management, and corporate and correspondent banking services. Further, the company provides transaction processing services including check clearing services and remittance processing, credit cards, investment, and sale of mutual fund and retail insurances, as well as trust, fiduciary, and agency services. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.