National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) vs. First Financial Corporation Indiana (NASDAQ:THFF) Head-To-Head Review

National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) and First Financial Corporation Indiana (NASDAQ:THFF) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares National Bank of Canada and First Financial Corporation Indiana”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Bank of Canada	$21.96 billion	2.62	$2.87 billion	$8.63	17.39
First Financial Corporation Indiana	$276.32 million	3.25	$79.21 million	$7.14	10.58

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

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Bank of Canada	0	5	3	0	2.38
First Financial Corporation Indiana	0	4	0	1	2.40

First Financial Corporation Indiana has a consensus price target of $88.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.46%. Given First Financial Corporation Indiana’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Financial Corporation Indiana is more favorable than National Bank of Canada.

Dividends

National Bank of Canada pays an annual dividend of $3.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. First Financial Corporation Indiana pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. National Bank of Canada pays out 44.1% 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.1% of National Bank of Canada shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of First Financial Corporation Indiana shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of National Bank of Canada 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

National Bank of Canada has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Corporation Indiana has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Bank of Canada	17.22%	16.67%	0.85%
First Financial Corporation Indiana	23.32%	13.02%	1.43%

Summary

First Financial Corporation Indiana beats National Bank of Canada on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Bank of Canada

National Bank of Canada provides financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional clients, and governments in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. The Personal and Commercial segment offers personal banking services, including transaction solutions, mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, consumer loans, payment solutions, and savings and investment solutions; various insurance products; and commercial banking services, such as credit, and deposit, investment solutions, international trade, foreign exchange transactions, payroll, cash management, insurance, electronic transactions, and complimentary services. The Wealth Management segment provides full-service brokerage, private banking, direct brokerage, investment solutions, administrative and trade execution, transaction products, and trust and estate services. The Financial Markets segment offers corporate banking, advisory, and capital markets services; and project financing, debt, and equity underwriting; advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, and financing. The U.S. Specialty Finance and International segment provides specialty finance products; and personal and commercial banking in Cambodia. National Bank of Canada was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

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.