Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in First Financial Bancorp. or Valley National Bancorp because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and banking-related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking and savings accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for retail and commercial customers. It also provides real estate loans secured by residential property, such as one to four family residential housing units or commercial property comprising owner-occupied and/or investor income producing real estate consisting of apartments, shopping centers, and office buildings; commercial and industrial loans for various purposes, including inventory, receivables, and equipment, as well as equipment and leasehold improvement financing for franchisees; consumer loans, such as new and used vehicle loans, second mortgages on residential real estate and unsecured loans; and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers secured commercial financing services to the insurance industry, registered investment advisors, certified public accountants, indirect auto finance companies, and restaurant franchisees. Further, it provides a range of trust and wealth management services, lease and equipment financing services, currency payments, foreign exchange hedging, commodities hedging, and other advisory products. First Financial Bancorp. was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. The company operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments. It offers non-interest bearing, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposit accounts; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, residential mortgage, and automobile loans; loans secured by the cash surrender value of life insurance; home equity loans and lines of credit; automobile financing; and secured and unsecured other consumer loans. The company also invests in various securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks; and provides international banking services. In addition, it offers investment services for individuals and small to medium sized businesses; and trusts investment strategies designed for various investment profiles and objectives. Further, the company provides trust services, such as living and testamentary trusts, investment management, custodial and escrow services, and estate administration to individuals; tax credit advisory services; brokerage services; property and casualty, life, health, and title insurance agency services; and health care equipment lending and other commercial equipment leasing services, as well as private banking and management services. Additionally, it offers niche financial services, including loan and deposit products for homeowners associations, cannabis-related business banking, and venture banking; online, mobile, and telephone banking services; credit cards; and automated teller machine services. Valley National Bancorp was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey.

Latest Banks and First Financial Bancorp., Valley National Bancorp Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, First Financial Bancorp. had a $3.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $750.0 million. First Financial Bancorp.’s stock is up 32.1% in 2026, up 1% in the previous five trading days and up 24.32% in the past year.

Currently, First Financial Bancorp.’s price-earnings ratio is 11.5. First Financial Bancorp.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $952.9 million with a 29.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 16.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.200 per share for the current fiscal year. First Financial Bancorp. currently has a 3.2% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, Valley National Bancorp had a $7.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 73rd percentile of all stocks. Valley National Bancorp’s stock is up 19.3% in 2026, down 0.1% in the previous five trading days and up 32.66% in the past year.

Currently, Valley National Bancorp’s price-earnings ratio is 11.7. Valley National Bancorp’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.0 billion with a 34.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 15.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.279 per share for the current fiscal year. Valley National Bancorp currently has a 3.2% dividend yield.

How We Compare First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
First Financial Bancorp.	FFBC	B
Valley National Bancorp	VLY	B

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

First Financial Bancorp. has a Value Score of 67, which is Value. Valley National Bancorp has a Value Score of 66, which is Value.

The Value Stock Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Value Grade breakdown above, both First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp have a Value Grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, you will need to conduct further research into both of these companies’ other metrics to see if they could be good additions to your portfolio. It’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
First Financial Bancorp.	FFBC	F
Valley National Bancorp	VLY	F

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

First Financial Bancorp. has a Quality Score of 9, which is Very Weak. Valley National Bancorp has a Quality Score of 17, which is Very Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither First Financial Bancorp. or Valley National Bancorp has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if First Financial Bancorp. or Valley National Bancorp is the better investment when it comes to quality.

First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
First Financial Bancorp.	FFBC	B
Valley National Bancorp	VLY	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

First Financial Bancorp. has a Momentum Score of 61, which is Strong. Valley National Bancorp has a Momentum Score of 59, which is Average.

The Momentum Grade Winner: First Financial Bancorp.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, First Financial Bancorp. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Valley National Bancorp. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, First Financial Bancorp. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, First Financial Bancorp. or Valley National Bancorp Stock?

Overall, First Financial Bancorp. stock has a Value Score of 67, Momentum Score of 61 and Quality Score of 9.

Valley National Bancorp stock has a Value Score of 66, Momentum Score of 59 and Quality Score of 17.

Comparing First Financial Bancorp. and Valley National Bancorp’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.