Head-To-Head Comparison: First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp (NASDAQ:KFFB)

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp (NASDAQ:KFFB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for First Horizon and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Horizon	1	12	8	0	2.33
Kentucky First Federal Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

First Horizon currently has a consensus target price of $27.07, indicating a potential upside of 15.34%. Given First Horizon’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe First Horizon is more favorable than Kentucky First Federal Bancorp.

Dividends

First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. First Horizon pays out 48.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp pays out 87.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Volatility & Risk

First Horizon has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kentucky First Federal Bancorp has a beta of 0.14, meaning that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Horizon and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Horizon	$3.42 billion	3.25	$982.00 million	$1.39	16.89
Kentucky First Federal Bancorp	$11.74 million	3.71	$1.91 million	$0.23	23.42

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Horizon	14.35%	12.24%	1.26%
Kentucky First Federal Bancorp	8.91%	3.86%	0.52%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.3% of First Horizon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.2% of Kentucky First Federal Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Horizon shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Kentucky First Federal Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

First Horizon beats Kentucky First Federal Bancorp on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Horizon

First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through Regional Banking and Specialty Banking segments. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also accepts deposits; provides underwriting services for bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; financial planning; and offers investment and financial advisory services. In addition, it offers mortgage banking; loan syndications; brokerage services; commercial and business banking for business enterprises, consumer banking, and private client and wealth management services; capital markets, professional commercial real estate, mortgage warehouse and asset-based lending, franchise and equipment finance, tax credit finance, energy and healthcare finance, asset management, and corporate and correspondent banking services. Further, the company provides transaction processing services including check clearing services and remittance processing, credit cards, investment, and sale of mutual fund and retail insurances, as well as trust, fiduciary, and agency services. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

About Kentucky First Federal Bancorp

Kentucky First Federal Bancorp operates as the holding company for First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hazard, and Frankfort First Bancorp, Inc. that provide various banking products and services in Kentucky. It accepts deposit products include passbook savings and certificate accounts, checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises one-to four-family residential mortgage loans; construction loans; mortgage loans secured by multi-family property; nonresidential loans that are secured by commercial office buildings, churches, and properties used for other purposes; commercial non-mortgage loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity lines of credit, loans secured by savings deposits, automobile loans, and unsecured or personal loans. It also invests in mortgage-backed securities. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Hazard, Kentucky. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp is a subsidiary of First Federal MHC.