Head to Head Contrast: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC)

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

Profitability

This table compares First Financial Bancorp. and Wintrust Financial’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%
Wintrust Financial	20.11%	13.32%	1.26%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Financial Bancorp. and Wintrust Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.26 billion	2.44	$255.60 million	$2.66	10.99
Wintrust Financial	$4.23 billion	2.40	$823.84 million	$11.40	13.18

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

Volatility and Risk

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 37.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wintrust Financial pays out 19.3% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for First Financial Bancorp. and Wintrust Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0	4	4	0	2.50
Wintrust Financial	0	3	10	1	2.86

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus target price of $31.17, suggesting a potential upside of 6.63%. Wintrust Financial has a consensus target price of $163.08, suggesting a potential upside of 8.53%. Given Wintrust Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Wintrust Financial is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats First Financial Bancorp. on 12 of the 18 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 Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services. It also engages in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages; and provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations, as well as asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, this segment offers loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. It provides personal and commercial banking services primarily to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units, and institutional clients. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty premium financing; as well as data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, asset management, tax-deferred exchange, securities brokerage, and retirement plan services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.