WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) vs. First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNLC) Head-To-Head Comparison

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) and First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNLC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.4% of First Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of First Bancorp shares are owned 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for WesBanco and First Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WesBanco	0	4	3	0	2.43
First Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

WesBanco presently has a consensus target price of $34.71, indicating a potential upside of 20.33%. Given WesBanco’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe WesBanco is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

WesBanco has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bancorp has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. First Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. WesBanco pays out 60.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Bancorp pays out 58.1% 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. WesBanco has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and First Bancorp has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. First Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares WesBanco and First Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WesBanco	$831.96 million	2.32	$159.03 million	$2.40	12.02
First Bancorp	$77.56 million	3.67	$29.52 million	$2.48	10.31

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

Profitability

This table compares WesBanco and First Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WesBanco	15.22%	5.90%	0.79%
First Bancorp	16.95%	11.01%	0.88%

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc. that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services. It offers commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and individual installment loans; retail loans, such as residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and loans for other consumer purposes; installment loans to finance the purchase of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as home equity installment loans, unsecured home improvement loans, and revolving lines of credit; and various non-traditional offerings, such as insurance and securities brokerage services. The company also provides trust services; and various alternative investment products, including mutual funds and annuities. In addition, it acts as an agency that specializes in property, casualty, life, and title insurance, as well as benefit plan sales and administration to personal and commercial clients; provides broker dealer and discount brokerage services; holds investment securities and loans; and holds and leases commercial real estate properties, as well as acts as an investment adviser to a family of mutual funds. WesBanco, Inc. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia.

About First Bancorp

The First Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for First National Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to individuals and businesses. It offers various deposit products, including demand, NOW, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides commercial loans comprising commercial real estate owner occupied, such as mortgage loans to finance investments in real property such as retail space, offices, industrial buildings, hotels, educational facilities, and other specific or mixed use properties; commercial real estate non-owner occupied loans; commercial construction to finance construction in a mix of owner- and nonowner occupied commercial real estate properties; and commercial and industrial loans, including revolving and term loan for financing working capital and/or capital investment. In addition, it offers commercial multifamily loans; residential real estate term and residential real estate construction loans; loans to municipalities in Maine for capitalized expenditures, construction projects, or tax anticipation notes; home equity revolving and term loans; and personal lines of credit and amortizing loans for various purposes, such as autos, recreational vehicles, debt consolidation, personal expenses, or overdraft protection. Further, the company offers private banking, financial planning, investment management, and trust services to individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations and municipalities; and brokerage, annuity, and various insurance products, as well as payment processing services. It operates through full-service banking offices in Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, Penobscot, Hancock, and Washington counties in the Mid-Coast, Eastern, and Down East regions of Maine. The company was formerly known as First National Lincoln Corporation and changed its name to The First Bancorp, Inc. in April 2008. The First Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1864 and is based in Damariscotta, Maine.