Banner (BANR) Competitors

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) and Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, profitability and dividends.

Is BANR or WBS a better dividend stock?

Banner pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Banner pays out 39.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Webster Financial pays out 36.6% 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. Webster Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer BANR or WBS?

In the previous week, Webster Financial had 2 more articles in the media than Banner. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Webster Financial and 8 mentions for Banner. Webster Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.54 beat Banner's score of 1.10 indicating that Webster Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Banner	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Webster Financial	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer BANR or WBS?

Webster Financial received 202 more outperform votes than Banner when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.66% of users gave Webster Financial an outperform vote while only 57.61% of users gave Banner an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Banner	Outperform Votes 333 57.61%	Underperform Votes 245 42.39%
Webster Financial	Outperform Votes 535 58.66%	Underperform Votes 377 41.34%

Is BANR or WBS more profitable?

Banner has a net margin of 20.28% compared to Webster Financial's net margin of 18.39%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 10.82% beat Banner's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banner	20.28%	10.03%	1.09%
Webster Financial	18.39%	10.82%	1.21%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of BANR or WBS?

87.3% of Banner shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Webster Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Banner shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Webster Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, BANR or WBS?

Webster Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Banner. Webster Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Banner, 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
Banner	$602.94M	3.74	$168.90M	$4.88	13.42
Webster Financial	$2.58B	3.50	$768.71M	$4.37	12.05

Which has more volatility & risk, BANR or WBS?

Banner has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Webster Financial has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate BANR or WBS?

Banner presently has a consensus target price of $74.20, suggesting a potential upside of 13.28%. Webster Financial has a consensus target price of $63.36, suggesting a potential upside of 20.30%. Given Webster Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Webster Financial is more favorable than Banner.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banner	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Webster Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Summary

Webster Financial beats Banner on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.