FRME vs. FFBC, TBBK, CBU, SFNC, WSBC, NBTB, TRMK, FULT, CHCO, and FCF
Should you be buying First Merchants stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of First Merchants include First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), Bancorp (TBBK), Community Bank System (CBU), Simmons First National (SFNC), WesBanco (WSBC), NBT Bancorp (NBTB), Trustmark (TRMK), Fulton Financial (FULT), City (CHCO), and First Commonwealth Financial (FCF). These companies are all part of the "regional banks" industry.
First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and dividends.
73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
First Merchants presently has a consensus target price of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.34%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $24.67, indicating a potential upside of 9.29%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..
First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Merchants pays out 39.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 37.1% 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. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
First Merchants received 79 more outperform votes than First Financial Bancorp. when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.86% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 46.59% of users gave First Financial Bancorp. an outperform vote.
First Merchants has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.
First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than First Merchants. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Merchants, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 3 more articles in the media than First Merchants. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 9 mentions for First Merchants. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat First Merchants' score of 0.25 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 20.74% compared to First Merchants' net margin of 20.15%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 11.35% beat First Merchants' return on equity.
Summary
First Financial Bancorp. beats First Merchants on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get First Merchants News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for FRME and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding FRME and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartThis chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Skip Chart
First Merchants Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools