First Bancorp (FNLC) Competitors

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNLC) and Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, community ranking and institutional ownership.

Which has more volatility and risk, FNLC or FISI?

First Bancorp has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Financial Institutions has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer FNLC or FISI?

In the previous week, Financial Institutions had 1 more articles in the media than First Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Financial Institutions and 2 mentions for First Bancorp. Financial Institutions' average media sentiment score of 0.19 beat First Bancorp's score of -0.35 indicating that Financial Institutions is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Bancorp	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Financial Institutions	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is FNLC or FISI more profitable?

First Bancorp has a net margin of 18.41% compared to Financial Institutions' net margin of 11.53%. First Bancorp's return on equity of 11.79% beat Financial Institutions' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancorp	18.41%	11.79%	0.94%
Financial Institutions	11.53%	9.76%	0.65%

Do analysts prefer FNLC or FISI?

Financial Institutions has a consensus target price of $20.67, suggesting a potential upside of 15.78%. Given Financial Institutions' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Financial Institutions is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A
Financial Institutions	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in FNLC or FISI?

40.4% of First Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.5% of Financial Institutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of First Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Financial Institutions shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FNLC or FISI?

Financial Institutions received 103 more outperform votes than First Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.30% of users gave First Bancorp an outperform vote while only 58.25% of users gave Financial Institutions an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Bancorp	Outperform Votes 190 62.30%	Underperform Votes 115 37.70%
Financial Institutions	Outperform Votes 293 58.25%	Underperform Votes 210 41.75%

Is FNLC or FISI a better dividend stock?

First Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Financial Institutions pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. First Bancorp pays out 56.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Financial Institutions pays out 47.8% 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. Financial Institutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has better earnings & valuation, FNLC or FISI?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Bancorp	$143.61M	1.79	$29.52M	$2.48	9.31
Financial Institutions	$334.38M	0.82	$50.26M	$2.51	7.11

Summary

Financial Institutions beats First Bancorp on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.