First Merchants (FRME) Competitors

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

Which has better earnings and valuation, FRME or FMBI?

First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than First Midwest Bancorp. First Midwest Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Merchants, 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	2.55	$223.79M	$3.03	14.35
First Midwest Bancorp	$789.56M	3.11	$199.56M	$1.60	13.44

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FRME or FMBI?

First Midwest Bancorp received 71 more outperform votes than First Merchants when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.87% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 56.97% of users gave First Midwest Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 358 59.87%	Underperform Votes 240 40.13%
First Midwest Bancorp	Outperform Votes 429 56.97%	Underperform Votes 324 43.03%

Which has more risk and volatility, FRME or FMBI?

First Merchants has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Midwest Bancorp has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FRME or FMBI?

First Merchants currently has a consensus target price of $41.60, suggesting a potential downside of 4.32%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Merchants is more favorable than First Midwest Bancorp.

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
First Midwest Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Is FRME or FMBI more profitable?

First Midwest Bancorp has a net margin of 25.27% compared to First Merchants' net margin of 16.94%. First Merchants' return on equity of 8.94% beat First Midwest Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Merchants	16.94%	8.94%	1.08%
First Midwest Bancorp	25.27%	8.19%	0.96%

Does the media prefer FRME or FMBI?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 10 more articles in the media than First Midwest Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for First Merchants and 0 mentions for First Midwest Bancorp. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat First Midwest Bancorp's score of 0.00 indicating that First Merchants is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
First Merchants	Positive
First Midwest Bancorp	Neutral

Is FRME or FMBI a better dividend stock?

First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Midwest Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. First Merchants pays out 46.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Midwest Bancorp pays out 35.0% 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 13 consecutive years. First Merchants is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.1% of First Midwest Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of First Midwest Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

First Merchants beats First Midwest Bancorp on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.