Head to Head Review: Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) & First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) and First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Dime Community Bancshares and First Citizens BancShares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dime Community Bancshares	0	2	3	1	2.83
First Citizens BancShares	0	10	2	1	2.31

Dime Community Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $39.75, indicating a potential downside of 0.74%. First Citizens BancShares has a consensus price target of $2,247.08, indicating a potential upside of 8.52%. Given First Citizens BancShares’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Citizens BancShares is more favorable than Dime Community Bancshares.

Risk and Volatility

Dime Community Bancshares has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Citizens BancShares has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Dime Community Bancshares and First Citizens BancShares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dime Community Bancshares	15.15%	9.12%	0.83%
First Citizens BancShares	15.62%	11.48%	1.03%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dime Community Bancshares and First Citizens BancShares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dime Community Bancshares	$473.00 million	3.73	$110.68 million	$2.66	15.05
First Citizens BancShares	$14.51 billion	1.65	$2.21 billion	$173.88	11.91

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.3% of Dime Community Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Dime Community Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.6% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Dime Community Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. First Citizens BancShares pays an annual dividend of $8.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Dime Community Bancshares pays out 37.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Citizens BancShares pays out 4.8% 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. Dime Community Bancshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and First Citizens BancShares has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Summary

First Citizens BancShares beats Dime Community Bancshares on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that engages in the provision of various commercial banking and financial services. The company accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. It also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; letters of credit; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; lines of credit; home equity loans; and construction and land loans. In addition, the company invests in Federal Home Loan Bank, Federal National Mortgage Association, Government National Mortgage Association, and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, and other asset backed securities; U.S. Treasury securities; New York state and local municipal obligations; U.S. government-sponsored enterprise securities; and corporate bonds. Further, it offers certificate of deposit account registry services and insured cash sweep programs; federal deposit insurance corporation insurance; merchant credit and debit card processing, automated teller machines, cash management services, lockbox processing, online banking services, remote deposit capture, safe deposit boxes, and individual retirement accounts; investment products and services through a third-party broker dealer; and title insurance broker services for small and medium sized businesses, and municipal and consumer relationships. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.

About First Citizens BancShares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. operates as the holding company for First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and professionals. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts. Its loan product portfolio comprises commercial construction and mortgage; and commercial and industrial leases, as well as small business administration loans. In addition, the company offers consumer loans, such as residential and revolving mortgage, consumer auto, and other consumer loans. Further, it provides wealth management services, including annuities, brokerage services, and third-party mutual funds, as well as investment management and advisory services. The company provides its products and services through its branch network. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.