FRME vs. WBS, CBSH, PNFP, CFR, WTFC, WAL, UMBF, BPOP, ZION, and ONB
Should you be buying First Merchants stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of First Merchants include Webster Financial (WBS), Commerce Bancshares (CBSH), Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP), Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR), Wintrust Financial (WTFC), Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL), UMB Financial (UMBF), Popular (BPOP), Zions Bancorporation, National Association (ZION), and Old National Bancorp (ONB). These companies are all part of the "regional banks" industry.
First Merchants vs. Its Competitors
Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) and First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, community ranking and analyst recommendations.
Webster Financial has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, First Merchants has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Webster Financial pays out 36.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Merchants pays out 40.4% 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.
Webster Financial has higher revenue and earnings than First Merchants. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Webster Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Webster Financial currently has a consensus target price of $63.75, suggesting a potential upside of 17.49%. First Merchants has a consensus target price of $46.40, suggesting a potential upside of 24.35%. Given First Merchants' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than Webster Financial.
In the previous week, Webster Financial had 2 more articles in the media than First Merchants. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Webster Financial and 7 mentions for First Merchants. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.76 beat Webster Financial's score of 0.82 indicating that First Merchants is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Webster Financial received 176 more outperform votes than First Merchants when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 60.30% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 58.91% of users gave Webster Financial an outperform vote.
85.6% of Webster Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Webster Financial 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.
First Merchants has a net margin of 18.76% compared to Webster Financial's net margin of 18.39%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 10.82% beat First Merchants' return on equity.
Summary
Webster Financial beats First Merchants on 14 of the 22 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.
Media 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.
First Merchants Competitors List
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This page (NASDAQ:FRME) was last updated on 6/11/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
