American Business Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBZ) and First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Head-To-Head Survey

American Business Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBZ) and First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Business Bank	26.10%	N/A	N/A
First Horizon	18.08%	10.93%	1.16%

Dividends

American Business Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. American Business Bank pays out 17.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Horizon pays out 36.4% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Business Bank and First Horizon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Business Bank	$183.26 million	3.09	$43.28 million	$5.58	11.43
First Horizon	$3.16 billion	3.84	$775.00 million	$1.65	14.95

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

Risk and Volatility

American Business Bank has a beta of 0.3, indicating that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Horizon has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

9.9% of American Business Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.3% of First Horizon shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of First Horizon shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for American Business Bank and First Horizon, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Business Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Horizon	0	9	9	1	2.58

First Horizon has a consensus target price of $25.29, suggesting a potential upside of 2.55%. Given First Horizon’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Horizon is more favorable than American Business Bank.

Summary

First Horizon beats American Business Bank on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Business Bank

American Business Bank, a California-chartered bank, provides banking products and services to small and medium-sized firms, non-profits, business executives, and professionals in Southern California. The company offers credit and depository; treasury management; asset-based lending; SBA lending; international banking comprising money transfers, import and export commercial letters of credit, standby letters of credit, documentary and clean collections, and foreign currency exchange services; and consulting and referral services. It operates regional loan production offices located in North Orange County, Orange County, South Bay, San Fernando Valley, Riverside County, Inland Empire, and Long Beach. American Business Bank was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

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.