First Foundation (NYSE:FFWM) & BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Financial Comparison

First Foundation (NYSE:FFWM) and BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Foundation and BancFirst”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Foundation	$545.12 million	0.85	-$92.41 million	($1.41)	-4.00
BancFirst	$908.71 million	4.58	$216.35 million	$6.95	17.98

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

Profitability

This table compares First Foundation and BancFirst’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Foundation	-15.29%	-1.20%	-0.09%
BancFirst	24.94%	14.16%	1.70%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.1% of First Foundation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.7% of BancFirst shares are held by institutional investors. 9.5% of First Foundation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 32.4% of BancFirst shares are held by 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.

Volatility and Risk

First Foundation has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, BancFirst has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for First Foundation and BancFirst, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Foundation	0	0	0	0	0.00
BancFirst	0	2	0	0	2.00

BancFirst has a consensus target price of $134.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.23%. Given BancFirst’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BancFirst is more favorable than First Foundation.

Summary

BancFirst beats First Foundation on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Foundation

First Foundation Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides personal banking, business banking, and private wealth management services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking and Wealth Management. The company offers a range of bank deposit products, including personal and business checking accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, and time certificate of deposits; and loan products consisting of multifamily and single family residential real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, and commercial term loans and line of credits, as well as consumer loans, such as personal installment loans and line of credits, and home equity line of credits. It also provides various specialized services comprising trust services, internet and mobile banking, remote deposit capture services, merchant credit card services, ATM cards, Visa debit cards, and business sweep accounts, as well as insurance brokerage services and equipment financing solutions. In addition, the company offers investment management and financial planning services; treasury management services; advisory and coordination services in the areas of estate planning, retirement planning, and charitable and business ownership issues; and financial, investment, and economic advisory and related services. Further, it provides support services, including the processing and transmission of financial and economic data for charitable organizations. The company operates through a network of 28 branch offices and 3 loan production offices in California, Nevada, Texas, and Hawaii. First Foundation Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments. It offers checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, sweep accounts, club accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as overdraft protection and auto draft services. The company also provides commercial and agricultural non-real estate loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchase of equipment, and other needs; lending services that include private banking, energy, commercial and residential real estate, and commercial and industrial loans; and loans to finance purchases of consumer goods, such as automobiles, boats, household goods, vacations, and education. In addition, it engages in the investment management and administration of trusts for individuals, corporations, and employee benefit plans, as well as bond trustee and paying agent business for various Oklahoma municipalities and governmental entities; and provision of item processing, research, and other correspondent banking services to financial institutions and governmental units. Further, the company provides insurance agency services; depository and funds transfer, collection, safe deposit box, cash management, and other services. It serves customers in non-metropolitan trade centers and cities in the metropolitan statistical areas of Oklahoma. The company was formerly known as United Community Corporation and changed its name to BancFirst Corporation in November 1988. BancFirst Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.