Head to Head Comparison: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) vs. FirstSun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN)

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and FirstSun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, FirstSun Capital Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of FirstSun Capital Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for First Financial Bancorp. and FirstSun Capital Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0	4	4	0	2.50
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	0	1	4	1	3.00

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus target price of $30.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.29%. FirstSun Capital Bancorp has a consensus target price of $43.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.45%. Given FirstSun Capital Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FirstSun Capital Bancorp is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	20.30%	10.77%	1.47%
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	17.19%	9.12%	1.19%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Financial Bancorp. and FirstSun Capital Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.26 billion	2.42	$255.60 million	$2.66	11.62
FirstSun Capital Bancorp	$569.65 million	1.97	$97.94 million	$3.46	11.66

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

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats FirstSun Capital Bancorp on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About FirstSun Capital Bancorp

FirstSun Capital Bancorp engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Mortgage Operations, and Corporate. The Banking segment consists of loans and provides deposits and fee-based services to consumer, business, and mortgage lending customers. The Mortgage Operations segment originates, sells, services, and manages market risk from changes in interest rates on one-to-four family residential mortgage loans to sell and hold. The company is founded on November 9, 1981 headquartered in Denver, CO.