Critical Survey: First Republic Bank (OTCMKTS:FRCB) & First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB)

First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) and First Republic Bank (OTCMKTS:FRCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Dividends

First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. First Republic Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 36,000.0%. First Hawaiian pays out 50.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Republic Bank pays out 20.3% 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 Republic Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Hawaiian	22.60%	9.68%	1.08%
First Republic Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for First Hawaiian and First Republic Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Hawaiian	4	6	0	0	1.60
First Republic Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Hawaiian currently has a consensus price target of $27.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.93%. Given First Hawaiian’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than First Republic Bank.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of First Republic Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of First Republic Bank shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Republic Bank has a beta of 2.45, meaning that its share price is 145% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Hawaiian	$810.12 million	3.79	$230.13 million	$2.05	12.09
First Republic Bank	$6.75 billion	0.00	$1.67 billion	$5.32	0.00

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

Summary

First Hawaiian beats First Republic Bank on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About First Republic Bank

As of May 1, 2023, First Republic Bank went out of business. Previously, First Republic Bank provided private banking, private business banking, and private wealth management services to clients in metropolitan areas in the United States. The company was founded in 1985 and was headquartered in San Francisco, California. First Republic Bank now trades on OTCPK.