CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) and First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Head to Head Comparison

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) and First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.3% of CNB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.6% of First Commonwealth Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of CNB Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of First Commonwealth Financial shares are held by company 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

CNB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. First Commonwealth Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. CNB Financial pays out 24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Commonwealth Financial pays out 34.4% 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. CNB Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and First Commonwealth Financial has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years. First Commonwealth Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

CNB Financial has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Commonwealth Financial has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for CNB Financial and First Commonwealth Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNB Financial	0	2	4	1	2.86
First Commonwealth Financial	0	2	4	0	2.67

CNB Financial currently has a consensus target price of $37.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.50%. First Commonwealth Financial has a consensus target price of $24.20, suggesting a potential upside of 17.84%. Given First Commonwealth Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Commonwealth Financial is more favorable than CNB Financial.

Profitability

This table compares CNB Financial and First Commonwealth Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNB Financial	19.37%	12.85%	1.26%
First Commonwealth Financial	22.62%	10.79%	1.37%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CNB Financial and First Commonwealth Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNB Financial	$432.51 million	2.34	$66.13 million	$3.11	10.96
First Commonwealth Financial	$729.51 million	2.84	$152.30 million	$1.63	12.60

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

Summary

First Commonwealth Financial beats CNB Financial on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for CNB Bank that provides a range of banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; and offers real estate, commercial, industrial, residential, and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services. It also provides private banking; and wealth and asset management services, including the administration of trusts and estates, retirement plans, and other employee benefit plans, as well as a range of wealth management services. In addition, the company invests in debt and equity securities; sells nonproprietary annuities and other insurance products; and offers small balance unsecured loans and secured loans primarily collateralized by automobiles and equipment, as well as engages in consumer discount loan and finance business. The company was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

About First Commonwealth Financial

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides various consumer and commercial banking services in the United States. Its consumer services include personal checking accounts, interest-earning checking accounts, savings and health savings accounts, insured money market accounts, debit cards, investment certificates, fixed and variable rate certificates of deposit, mortgage loans, secured and unsecured installment loans, construction and real estate loans, safe deposit facilities, credit cards, credit lines with overdraft checking protection, IRA accounts, and automated teller machine (atm) services, as well as internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company's commercial banking services comprise commercial lending, business checking accounts, online account management services, payroll direct deposits, commercial cash management services, and repurchase agreements, as well as ACH origination services. In addition, it offers various trust and asset management services; auto, home, and business insurance, as well as term life insurance; and annuities, mutual funds, and stock and bond brokerage services through a broker-dealer and insurance brokers. The company was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania.