Head-To-Head Survey: Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) and First Financial Corporation Indiana (NASDAQ:THFF)

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) and First Financial Corporation Indiana (NASDAQ:THFF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Metropolitan Bank has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Corporation Indiana has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.8% of Metropolitan Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of First Financial Corporation Indiana shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Metropolitan Bank shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of First Financial Corporation Indiana shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Metropolitan Bank and First Financial Corporation Indiana”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Metropolitan Bank	$527.15 million	2.05	$71.10 million	$7.90	11.04
First Financial Corporation Indiana	$276.32 million	3.17	$79.21 million	$7.14	10.33

First Financial Corporation Indiana has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Metropolitan Bank. First Financial Corporation Indiana is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Metropolitan Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Metropolitan Bank and First Financial Corporation Indiana’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Metropolitan Bank	14.31%	10.22%	1.01%
First Financial Corporation Indiana	23.32%	13.02%	1.43%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Metropolitan Bank and First Financial Corporation Indiana, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Metropolitan Bank	0	1	2	1	3.00
First Financial Corporation Indiana	0	4	1	1	2.50

Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus price target of $105.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.38%. First Financial Corporation Indiana has a consensus price target of $87.25, suggesting a potential upside of 18.34%. Given Metropolitan Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Metropolitan Bank is more favorable than First Financial Corporation Indiana.

Dividends

Metropolitan Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. First Financial Corporation Indiana pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Metropolitan Bank pays out 17.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Corporation Indiana pays out 31.4% 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 Corporation Indiana has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. First Financial Corporation Indiana is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Metropolitan Bank beats First Financial Corporation Indiana on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area. The company offers checking, savings, term deposit, money market, demand deposit, and other interest-bearing transaction accounts. It also provides lending products, including commercial real estate, multi-family, construction, and one-to four-family real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; consumer loans; acquisition and renovation loans; loans to refinance or return borrower equity; loans on owner-occupied properties; working capital lines of credit; trade finance and letters of credit; and term loans. In addition, the company offers cash management services, as well as online and mobile banking, ACH, remote deposit capture, and debit cards. The company was formerly known as Metbank Holding Corp. and changed its name to Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. in January 2007. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About First Financial Corporation Indiana

First Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services. The company offers non-interest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand, savings, time, and other time deposits. It also provides commercial loans primarily to expand a business or finance asset purchases; residential real estate and residential real estate construction loans; and home equity loans and lines, secured loans, and cash/CD secured and unsecured loans. In addition, the company offers lease financing, trust account, depositor, and insurance services. The company was founded in 1834 and is headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana.