First Merchants (FRME) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, FRME or WBS?

Webster Financial has higher revenue and earnings than First Merchants. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Webster Financial, 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	2.41	$201.40M	$3.42	12.89
Webster Financial	$4.18B	2.37	$768.71M	$4.37	13.20

Is FRME or WBS more profitable?

First Merchants has a net margin of 18.76% compared to Webster Financial's net margin of 18.39%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 10.82% beat First Merchants' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Merchants	18.76%	9.23%	1.12%
Webster Financial	18.39%	10.82%	1.21%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FRME or WBS?

Webster Financial received 172 more outperform votes than First Merchants when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 60.20% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 58.73% of users gave Webster Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 363 60.20%	Underperform Votes 240 39.80%
Webster Financial	Outperform Votes 535 58.73%	Underperform Votes 376 41.27%

Do analysts rate FRME or WBS?

First Merchants presently has a consensus price target of $49.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.11%. Webster Financial has a consensus price target of $62.08, suggesting a potential upside of 7.63%. Given First Merchants' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than Webster Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Webster Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

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

73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Webster Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Webster Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor FRME or WBS?

In the previous week, First Merchants and First Merchants both had 5 articles in the media. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Webster Financial's score of 0.93 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)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Webster Financial	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FRME or WBS a better dividend stock?

First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. First Merchants pays out 40.9% 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. First Merchants has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. First Merchants is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, FRME or WBS?

First Merchants has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Webster Financial has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Webster Financial beats First Merchants on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.