Bridge Bancorp (BDGE) Competitors

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

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 3.2%. First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. 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 increased 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 better 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	2.90	$51.69M	$2.59	11.75
First Merchants	$1.07B	2.12	$201.40M	$3.86	10.22

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

58.8% of Bridge Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.5% of Bridge Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of First Merchants 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.

Does the media favor BDGE or FRME?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 7 more articles in the media than Bridge Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Merchants and 0 mentions for Bridge Bancorp. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.75 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 analysts prefer BDGE or FRME?

First Merchants has a consensus price target of $48.25, suggesting a potential upside of 22.29%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly 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 more volatility & risk, BDGE or FRME?

Bridge Bancorp has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Merchants has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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