WesBanco (WSBC) Competitors

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, community ranking, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Is FRME or WSBC more profitable?

First Merchants has a net margin of 20.15% compared to First Merchants' net margin of 17.52%. WesBanco's return on equity of 10.21% beat First Merchants' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Merchants	20.15%	10.21%	1.21%
WesBanco	17.52%	6.50%	0.87%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in FRME or WSBC?

73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of WesBanco shares are owned 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.

Does the media prefer FRME or WSBC?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 6 more articles in the media than WesBanco. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Merchants and 2 mentions for WesBanco. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat WesBanco's score of 1.10 indicating that WesBanco is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Merchants	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
WesBanco	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FRME or WSBC?

First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than WesBanco. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WesBanco, 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	$999.49M	1.85	$223.79M	$3.47	9.11
WesBanco	$831.96M	1.89	$159.03M	$2.40	11.02

Is FRME or WSBC a better dividend stock?

First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. First Merchants pays out 40.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WesBanco pays out 60.0% 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 12 consecutive years and WesBanco has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. WesBanco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FRME or WSBC?

First Merchants received 89 more outperform votes than WesBanco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.73% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 51.46% of users gave WesBanco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 353 59.73%	Underperform Votes 238 40.27%
WesBanco	Outperform Votes 264 51.46%	Underperform Votes 249 48.54%

Do analysts rate FRME or WSBC?

First Merchants presently has a consensus price target of $41.25, indicating a potential upside of 30.54%. WesBanco has a consensus price target of $30.60, indicating a potential upside of 15.69%. Given WesBanco's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe First Merchants is more favorable than WesBanco.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
WesBanco	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has more risk & volatility, FRME or WSBC?

First Merchants has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WesBanco has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Merchants beats WesBanco on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.