Bridge Bancorp (BDGE) Competitors

Bridge Bancorp (NASDAQ:BDGE) and First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment and earnings.

Do analysts rate BDGE or FRME?

First Merchants has a consensus price target of $48.25, suggesting a potential upside of 28.77%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than Bridge Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridge Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is BDGE or FRME more profitable?

Bridge Bancorp has a net margin of 23.05% compared to First Merchants' net margin of 21.35%. First Merchants' return on equity of 9.88% beat Bridge Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridge Bancorp	23.05%	9.83%	0.88%
First Merchants	21.35%	9.88%	1.23%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, BDGE or FRME?

First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than Bridge Bancorp. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bridge Bancorp, 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
Bridge Bancorp	$206.93M	2.62	$51.69M	$2.59	10.60
First Merchants	$1.07B	2.01	$201.40M	$3.86	9.71

Is BDGE or FRME a better dividend stock?

Bridge Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Bridge Bancorp pays out 37.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Merchants pays out 37.3% 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. First Merchants is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, BDGE or FRME?

Bridge Bancorp has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Merchants has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor BDGE or FRME?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 2 more articles in the media than Bridge Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for First Merchants and 0 mentions for Bridge Bancorp. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.73 beat Bridge Bancorp's score of 0.00 indicating that First Merchants is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Bridge Bancorp	Neutral
First Merchants	Very Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of BDGE or FRME?

58.8% of Bridge Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of First Merchants shares are held by institutional investors. 15.5% of Bridge Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of First Merchants shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

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