Mercantile Bank (MBWM) Competitors

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) and First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Is MBWM or FIBK more profitable?

Mercantile Bank has a net margin of 21.99% compared to First Interstate BancSystem's net margin of 15.94%. Mercantile Bank's return on equity of 14.29% beat First Interstate BancSystem's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mercantile Bank	21.99%	14.29%	1.41%
First Interstate BancSystem	15.94%	6.92%	0.75%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in MBWM or FIBK?

58.6% of Mercantile Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of First Interstate BancSystem shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Mercantile Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of First Interstate BancSystem shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor MBWM or FIBK?

In the previous week, First Interstate BancSystem had 4 more articles in the media than Mercantile Bank. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Interstate BancSystem and 3 mentions for Mercantile Bank. Mercantile Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.88 beat First Interstate BancSystem's score of 0.49 indicating that Mercantile Bank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Mercantile Bank	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
First Interstate BancSystem	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MBWM or FIBK?

Mercantile Bank received 37 more outperform votes than First Interstate BancSystem when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.95% of users gave Mercantile Bank an outperform vote while only 49.37% of users gave First Interstate BancSystem an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Mercantile Bank	Outperform Votes 313 58.95%	Underperform Votes 218 41.05%
First Interstate BancSystem	Outperform Votes 276 49.37%	Underperform Votes 283 50.63%

Do analysts rate MBWM or FIBK?

Mercantile Bank currently has a consensus price target of $52.83, suggesting a potential upside of 17.96%. First Interstate BancSystem has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.37%. Given First Interstate BancSystem's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Interstate BancSystem is more favorable than Mercantile Bank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mercantile Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
First Interstate BancSystem	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Is MBWM or FIBK a better dividend stock?

Mercantile Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Interstate BancSystem pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Mercantile Bank pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Interstate BancSystem pays out 89.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mercantile Bank has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Which has better valuation and earnings, MBWM or FIBK?

First Interstate BancSystem has higher revenue and earnings than Mercantile Bank. Mercantile Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Interstate BancSystem, 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
Mercantile Bank	$230.50M	3.15	$79.59M	$4.82	9.29
First Interstate BancSystem	$1.00B	2.87	$226M	$2.11	13.02

Which has more risk & volatility, MBWM or FIBK?

Mercantile Bank has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Interstate BancSystem has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mercantile Bank beats First Interstate BancSystem on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.