First Merchants (FRME) Competitors

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

Is WAL or FRME a better dividend stock?

Western Alliance Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays out 23.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Merchants pays out 46.2% 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.

Do analysts prefer WAL or FRME?

Western Alliance Bancorporation presently has a consensus price target of $94.31, suggesting a potential upside of 5.25%. First Merchants has a consensus price target of $42.60, suggesting a potential upside of 5.79%. Given First Merchants' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than Western Alliance Bancorporation.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.94
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WAL or FRME?

Western Alliance Bancorporation received 170 more outperform votes than First Merchants when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.13% of users gave Western Alliance Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 59.93% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Western Alliance Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 529 66.13%	Underperform Votes 271 33.88%
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 359 59.93%	Underperform Votes 240 40.07%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, WAL or FRME?

Western Alliance Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than First Merchants. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western Alliance Bancorporation, 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
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$4.32B	2.29	$722.40M	$6.48	13.83
First Merchants	$999.49M	2.36	$223.79M	$3.03	13.29

Does the media favor WAL or FRME?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 1 more articles in the media than Western Alliance Bancorporation. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for First Merchants and 2 mentions for Western Alliance Bancorporation. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Western Alliance Bancorporation's score of 0.65 indicating that First Merchants is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Merchants	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of WAL or FRME?

79.2% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of First Merchants shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of First Merchants shares are held by 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 WAL or FRME more profitable?

First Merchants has a net margin of 16.94% compared to Western Alliance Bancorporation's net margin of 14.66%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's return on equity of 13.16% beat First Merchants' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Alliance Bancorporation	14.66%	13.16%	1.03%
First Merchants	16.94%	8.94%	1.08%

Which has more volatility and risk, WAL or FRME?

Western Alliance Bancorporation has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Merchants has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Western Alliance Bancorporation beats First Merchants on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.