Camden National (CAC) Competitors

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) and Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment and profitability.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FRME or CAC?

First Merchants received 95 more outperform votes than Camden National when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.56% of users gave Camden National an outperform vote while only 59.93% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 359 59.93%	Underperform Votes 240 40.07%
Camden National	Outperform Votes 264 62.56%	Underperform Votes 158 37.44%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FRME or CAC?

73.9% of First Merchants shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.4% of Camden National shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Camden National shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is FRME or CAC a better dividend stock?

First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Camden National pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. First Merchants pays out 46.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Camden National pays out 52.5% 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 raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Does the media favor FRME or CAC?

In the previous week, Camden National had 7 more articles in the media than First Merchants. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Camden National and 5 mentions for First Merchants. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Camden National's score of 0.66 indicating that First Merchants is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Merchants	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Camden National	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer FRME or CAC?

First Merchants currently has a consensus target price of $42.60, indicating a potential upside of 4.18%. Camden National has a consensus target price of $46.67, indicating a potential upside of 7.48%. Given Camden National's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Camden National is more favorable than First Merchants.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Camden National	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has more risk and volatility, FRME or CAC?

First Merchants has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Camden National has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, FRME or CAC?

First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than Camden National. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Camden National, 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	$626.09M	3.83	$223.79M	$3.03	13.50
Camden National	$163.73M	3.87	$43.38M	$3.20	13.57

Is FRME or CAC more profitable?

First Merchants has a net margin of 16.94% compared to Camden National's net margin of 16.47%. Camden National's return on equity of 9.95% beat First Merchants' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Merchants	16.94%	8.94%	1.08%
Camden National	16.47%	9.95%	0.88%

Summary

First Merchants beats Camden National on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.