Head to Head Comparison: CVB Financial (NASDAQ:CVBF) & First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB)

CVB Financial (NASDAQ:CVBF) and First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CVB Financial and First Hawaiian”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CVB Financial	$684.59 million	3.90	$200.72 million	$1.45	13.37
First Hawaiian	$1.17 billion	2.69	$230.13 million	$1.94	12.97

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

Dividends

CVB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. CVB Financial pays out 55.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Hawaiian pays out 53.6% 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 Hawaiian is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

74.2% of CVB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of CVB Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares CVB Financial and First Hawaiian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CVB Financial	30.99%	9.21%	1.33%
First Hawaiian	21.45%	9.29%	1.04%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for CVB Financial and First Hawaiian, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CVB Financial	0	2	2	0	2.50
First Hawaiian	4	5	0	0	1.56

CVB Financial presently has a consensus price target of $23.25, indicating a potential upside of 19.91%. First Hawaiian has a consensus price target of $27.06, indicating a potential upside of 7.52%. Given CVB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe CVB Financial is more favorable than First Hawaiian.

Volatility and Risk

CVB Financial has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About CVB Financial

CVB Financial Corp. operates as a bank holding company for Citizens Business Bank, a state-chartered bank that provides banking and financial services to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals. It offers checking, savings, money market, and time certificates of deposit products for business and personal accounts; and serves as a federal tax depository for business customers. The company also provides commercial lending products comprising lines of credit and other working capital financing, accounts receivable lending, and letters of credit; agriculture loans to finance the operating needs of wholesale dairy farm operations, cattle feeders, livestock raisers, and farmers; lease financing services for municipal governments; commercial real estate and construction loans; and consumer financing products, including automobile leasing and financing, lines of credit, credit cards, home mortgages, and home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, it offers various specialized services, such as treasury management systems for monitoring cash flow, merchant card processing program, armored pick-up and delivery, payroll services, remote deposit capture, electronic funds transfers, wires and automated clearinghouse, and online account access. Further, the company provides trust services, such as fiduciary services, mutual funds, annuities, 401(k) plans, and individual investment accounts. CVB Financial Corp. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Ontario, California.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts. It also provides residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and loans, automobile loans and leases, secured and unsecured lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and construction lending, as well as commercial lease and auto dealer financing. In addition, the company offers wealth management, personal installment, individual investment and financial planning, insurance protection, trust and estate, private banking, investment management, retirement planning, and merchant processing services, as well as consumer and commercial credit cards. The company was formerly known as BancWest Corporation and changed its name to First Hawaiian, Inc. in April 2016. First Hawaiian, Inc. was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.