Southside Bancshares (SBSI) Competitors

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) and Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Which has more risk & volatility, FRME or SBSI?

First Merchants has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend FRME or SBSI?

First Merchants currently has a consensus target price of $48.25, suggesting a potential upside of 17.17%. Southside Bancshares has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.29%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe First Merchants is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Southside Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is FRME or SBSI more profitable?

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.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Merchants	21.35%	9.88%	1.23%
Southside Bancshares	19.40%	11.10%	1.06%

Which has better earnings and valuation, FRME or SBSI?

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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Merchants	$1.07B	2.21	$201.40M	$3.86	10.67
Southside Bancshares	$260.02M	3.57	$88.49M	$2.82	10.96

Is FRME or SBSI a better dividend stock?

First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. First Merchants pays out 37.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southside Bancshares pays out 51.1% 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 and Southside Bancshares has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Southside Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer FRME or SBSI?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 5 more articles in the media than Southside Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Merchants and 3 mentions for Southside Bancshares. Southside Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.75 beat First Merchants' score of 1.74 indicating that Southside Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Merchants	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Southside Bancshares	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in FRME or SBSI?

73.9% of First Merchants shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of First Merchants shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

First Merchants beats Southside Bancshares on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.