Kentucky Bancshares (OTCMKTS:KTYB) vs. First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) Head to Head Survey

Kentucky Bancshares (OTCMKTS:KTYB) and First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kentucky Bancshares and First Foundation”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kentucky Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Foundation	$53.19 million	7.41	-$92.41 million	($1.34)	-3.57

Kentucky Bancshares has higher earnings, but lower revenue than First Foundation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.1% of First Foundation shares are held by institutional investors. 15.0% of Kentucky Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of First Foundation 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.

Profitability

This table compares Kentucky Bancshares and First Foundation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kentucky Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Foundation	-13.94%	-0.73%	-0.05%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Kentucky Bancshares and First Foundation, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kentucky Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Foundation	0	4	1	0	2.20

First Foundation has a consensus target price of $6.75, indicating a potential upside of 41.01%. Given First Foundation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Foundation is more favorable than Kentucky Bancshares.

Summary

First Foundation beats Kentucky Bancshares on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kentucky Bancshares

Kentucky Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Kentucky Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposit, safe deposits, interest and noninterest bearing deposits, and time deposits. The company also offers commercial, agricultural, and real estate loans to small-to-medium-sized industrial, service, and agricultural businesses; and residential mortgages, installments, and other loans to individual and other non-commercial customers. In addition, it provides credit cards and other consumer-oriented financial services; brokerage services, annuities, life and long-term care insurance, personal trust, and agency services; and Internet banking services, such as bill payment. The company has operations in Bourbon, Clark, Elliott, Fayette, Harrison, Jessamine, Madison, Rowan, Scott, Woodford, and other counties in Kentucky. Kentucky Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Paris, Kentucky.

About First Foundation

First Foundation Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides banking services, investment advisory, wealth management, and trust services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Wealth Management. It offers a range of deposit products, including personal and business checking accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, money market accounts, and time certificate of deposits; and loan products consisting of multifamily and single family residential real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, commercial term loans, and line of credits, as well as consumer loans, such as personal installment loans and line of credits, and home equity line of credits. The company also provides various specialized services comprising trust services, online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture services, merchant credit card services, ATM cards, Visa debit cards, and business sweep accounts, as well as insurance brokerage services and equipment financing solutions. In addition, it offers investment management and financial planning services; financial, investment, and economic advisory and related services; and treasury management services, such as bill pay, check/payee/ACH positive pay, wire origination, internal and external transfers, account reconciliation reporting, mobile deposit, lockbox, cash vault services and merchant processing. Further, the company provides support services, including the processing and transmission of financial and economic data for charitable organizations. It operates through a network of branch offices and loan production offices. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.