First Financial (THFF) Competitors

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

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, THFF or WASH?

First Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Washington Trust Bancorp. First Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Washington Trust 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 Financial	$271.10M	1.61	$60.67M	$5.09	7.26
Washington Trust Bancorp	$364.80M	1.21	$48.18M	$2.71	9.59

Does the media prefer THFF or WASH?

In the previous week, Washington Trust Bancorp had 19 more articles in the media than First Financial. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Washington Trust Bancorp and 5 mentions for First Financial. Washington Trust Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.70 beat First Financial's score of -0.19 indicating that Washington Trust Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Washington Trust Bancorp	13 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate THFF or WASH?

First Financial presently has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.47%. Given First Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Financial is more favorable than Washington Trust Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Washington Trust Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50

Which has more volatility & risk, THFF or WASH?

First Financial has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Washington Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in THFF or WASH?

First Financial received 154 more outperform votes than Washington Trust Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.78% of users gave First Financial an outperform vote while only 53.89% of users gave Washington Trust Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Financial	Outperform Votes 341 61.78%	Underperform Votes 211 38.22%
Washington Trust Bancorp	Outperform Votes 187 53.89%	Underperform Votes 160 46.11%

Is THFF or WASH more profitable?

First Financial has a net margin of 22.38% compared to Washington Trust Bancorp's net margin of 12.01%. First Financial's return on equity of 12.13% beat Washington Trust Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial	22.38%	12.13%	1.25%
Washington Trust Bancorp	12.01%	10.18%	0.65%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of THFF or WASH?

72.7% of First Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.8% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of First Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is THFF or WASH a better dividend stock?

First Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Washington Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. First Financial pays out 35.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Washington Trust Bancorp pays out 82.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

First Financial beats Washington Trust Bancorp on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.