First Financial Bancorp vs First Merchants
FFBC and FRME side by side, both in commercial banks. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How FFBC and FRME compare
First Financial Bancorp is the larger company, worth 1.3 times as much as First Merchants ($3.4B against $2.6B).
On earnings, First Financial Bancorp is cheaper: it trades at 11.5× trailing earnings, against 12.7× for First Merchants.
First Financial Bancorp grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (18.5% versus 8.5% for First Merchants).
First Financial Bancorp keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 28.1% compared with 27.3% at First Merchants.
Both pay dividends: First Financial Bancorp yields 3.1% and First Merchants 3.6%.
First Financial Bancorp scores higher on the StockData Score (16 against 11 for First Merchants), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | FFBC | FRME |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $3.4B | $2.6B |
| Share price | $32.71 | $41.07 |
| Change, 1 year | 35.3% | 13.4% |
| Change, 5 years | 31.8% | −1.3% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.74 | 0.68 |
| Employees | 2,199 | 2,086 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 16 (better) | 11 |
| Valuation score | 3 | 3 |
| Growth score | 2 (better) | 0 |
| Performance score | 2 (better) | 1 |
| Health score | 5 (better) | 4 |
| Dividend score | 4 (better) | 3 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 11.5× (better) | 12.7× |
| P/S | 3.3× (better) | 3.6× |
| P/B | 1.2× | 1.0× (better) |
| P/FCF | 4.4× | – |
| PEG | 2.31 (better) | 20.89 |
| FCF yield | 22.7% | – |
| Fair value | $31.57 | $42.00 |
| Margin of safety | −3.6% | 2.2% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 18.5% (better) | 8.5% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 6.9% (better) | 6.1% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 14.1% (better) | −15.3% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 5.6% (better) | −19.3% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 10.8% (better) | 7.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Net margin | 28.1% (better) | 27.3% |
| FCF margin | 74.2% | – |
| Return on equity | 10.7% (better) | 7.8% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.23 | – |
| Altman Z-score | 0.25 (better) | 0.22 |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 3.1% | 3.6% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 35.4% | 45.6% |
| Years of dividend growth | 2 | 14 (better) |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 1.3% | 6.6% (better) |
| Buyback yield | – | 2.4% |
| Shareholder yield | 3.1% | 5.9% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 85.1% | 74.5% |
| Held by insiders | 1.3% | 2.2% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$3.9M | −$1.7M (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 6.8% | – |
Go deeper
- FFBC stock overview
- FFBC income statement
- FFBC valuation and score
- FRME stock overview
- FRME income statement
- FRME valuation and score
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.