FRME vs. BUSE, EFSC, FFBC, OBK, PPBI, STBA, TOWN, UBSI, WSBC, and WSFS
Should you be buying First Merchants stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of First Merchants include First Busey (BUSE), Enterprise Financial Services (EFSC), First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), Origin Bancorp (OBK), Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI), S&T Bancorp (STBA), Towne Bank (TOWN), United Bankshares (UBSI), WesBanco (WSBC), and WSFS Financial (WSFS). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
First Merchants vs. Its Competitors
First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.
First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than First Busey. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of First Merchants shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
In the previous week, First Busey had 6 more articles in the media than First Merchants. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for First Busey and 3 mentions for First Merchants. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.77 beat First Busey's score of -0.44 indicating that First Merchants is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
First Merchants has a net margin of 21.35% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. First Merchants' return on equity of 9.88% beat First Busey's return on equity.
First Busey currently has a consensus target price of $27.17, indicating a potential upside of 23.04%. First Merchants has a consensus target price of $48.25, indicating a potential upside of 30.16%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Merchants is more favorable than First Busey.
First Busey has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Merchants has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.
First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. First Busey pays out 89.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Merchants pays out 37.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and First Merchants has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.
Summary
First Merchants beats First Busey on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
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 ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This 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.
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First Merchants Competitors List
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This page (NASDAQ:FRME) was last updated on 8/8/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff