We will be comparing the differences between Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) as far as dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation are concerned. The two businesses are rivals in the Regional – Midwest Banks industry.

Earnings & Valuation

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independent Bank Corporation	156.59M	3.34	39.84M	1.68	13.85
First Financial Bancorp.	538.03M	4.43	172.60M	1.93	14.12

In table 1 we can see Independent Bank Corporation and First Financial Bancorp.’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. First Financial Bancorp. appears to has higher revenue and earnings than Independent Bank Corporation. The business that is presently more affordable of the two stocks is the one that has a lower price-to-earnings ratio. Independent Bank Corporation’s presently lower price-to-earnings ratio means it is more affordable than First Financial Bancorp.

Profitability

Table 2 provides the net margins, return on assets and return on equity of the two firms.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independent Bank Corporation	25.44%	8.7%	0.9%
First Financial Bancorp.	32.08%	9.8%	1.4%

Risk and Volatility

Independent Bank Corporation is 56.00% less volatile than Standard and Poor’s 500 because the company has a beta of 0.44. Competitively, First Financial Bancorp. is 23.00% more volatile than Standard and Poor’s 500, because of the 1.23 beta.

Dividends

Independent Bank Corporation shareholders receive an annual dividend of $0.6 per share which is subject to 2.74% dividend yield. The dividend yield for First Financial Bancorp. is 3.17% while its annual dividend payout is $0.78 per share.

Analyst Recommendations

The following table delivered below contains the ratings and recommendations for Independent Bank Corporation and First Financial Bancorp.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independent Bank Corporation	0	0	0	0.00
First Financial Bancorp.	1	2	1	2.25

First Financial Bancorp. on the other hand boasts of a $30.33 average price target and a 25.12% potential upside.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

Institutional investors held 79.3% of Independent Bank Corporation shares and 76.5% of First Financial Bancorp. shares. 1.8% are Independent Bank Corporation’s share held by insiders. Competitively, First Financial Bancorp. has 1% of it’s share held by insiders.

Performance

Here are the Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half Yearly, Yearly and YTD Performance of both pretenders.

	Performance (W)	Performance (M)	Performance (Q)	Performance (HY)	Performance (Y)	Performance (YTD)
Independent Bank Corporation	-0.26%	4.92%	1.31%	-6.81%	2.2%	10.61%
First Financial Bancorp.	-1.73%	3.65%	-2.67%	-13.09%	-0.22%	15.05%

For the past year Independent Bank Corporation has weaker performance than First Financial Bancorp.

Summary

On 16 of the 15 factors First Financial Bancorp. beats Independent Bank Corporation.