SBSI vs. FRME, MBWM, NWBI, STBA, TCBK, TOWN, UBSI, WSFS, FCF, and PFS
Should you be buying Southside Bancshares stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Southside Bancshares include First Merchants (FRME), Mercantile Bank (MBWM), Northwest Bancshares (NWBI), S&T Bancorp (STBA), TriCo Bancshares (TCBK), Towne Bank (TOWN), United Bankshares (UBSI), WSFS Financial (WSFS), First Commonwealth Financial (FCF), and Provident Financial Services (PFS). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
Southside Bancshares vs. Its Competitors
Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) and First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.
First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than Southside Bancshares. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southside Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Southside Bancshares pays out 51.1% 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. Southside Bancshares has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years and First Merchants has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Southside Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Southside Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $34.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.37%. First Merchants has a consensus price target of $48.25, suggesting a potential upside of 22.84%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.
In the previous week, Southside Bancshares had 5 more articles in the media than First Merchants. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Southside Bancshares and 5 mentions for First Merchants. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 0.78 beat Southside Bancshares' score of 0.52 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 Southside Bancshares' net margin of 19.40%. Southside Bancshares' return on equity of 11.10% beat First Merchants' return on equity.
55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of First Merchants shares are held by institutional investors. 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of First Merchants shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less 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 Southside Bancshares on 13 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 SBSI 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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This page (NASDAQ:SBSI) was last updated on 9/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff