WesBanco (WSBC) Competitors

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, community ranking, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Is FRME or WSBC more profitable?

First Merchants has a net margin of 17.77% compared to WesBanco's net margin of 14.79%. First Merchants' return on equity of 9.17% beat WesBanco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Merchants	17.77%	9.17%	1.09%
WesBanco	14.79%	5.91%	0.79%

Does the media refer more to FRME or WSBC?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 1 more articles in the media than WesBanco. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for First Merchants and 10 mentions for WesBanco. WesBanco's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat First Merchants' score of 0.29 indicating that WesBanco is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Merchants	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
WesBanco	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, FRME or WSBC?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Merchants	$626.09M	3.46	$223.79M	$3.03	12.23
WesBanco	$589.18M	3.57	$159.03M	$2.09	15.05

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FRME or WSBC?

73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FRME or WSBC?

First Merchants received 92 more outperform votes than WesBanco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.87% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 51.15% of users gave WesBanco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 358 59.87%	Underperform Votes 240 40.13%
WesBanco	Outperform Votes 266 51.15%	Underperform Votes 254 48.85%

Which has more risk and volatility, FRME or WSBC?

First Merchants has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WesBanco has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend FRME or WSBC?

First Merchants currently has a consensus price target of $41.60, suggesting a potential upside of 12.28%. WesBanco has a consensus price target of $36.17, suggesting a potential upside of 15.00%. Given WesBanco's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe WesBanco is more favorable than First Merchants.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
WesBanco	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is FRME or WSBC a better dividend stock?

First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. First Merchants pays out 46.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WesBanco pays out 68.9% 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 Merchants has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and WesBanco has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Summary

First Merchants beats WesBanco on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.