HomeTrust Bancshares (HTBI) Competitors

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

Is HTBI or FRME a better dividend stock?

HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.2% 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 raised 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HTBI or FRME?

First Merchants received 148 more outperform votes than HomeTrust Bancshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.93% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 55.53% of users gave HomeTrust Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
HomeTrust Bancshares	Outperform Votes 211 55.53%	Underperform Votes 169 44.47%
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 359 59.93%	Underperform Votes 240 40.07%

Which has more risk & volatility, HTBI or FRME?

HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Merchants has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, HTBI or FRME?

First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than HomeTrust Bancshares. HomeTrust Bancshares 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
HomeTrust Bancshares	$200.77M	2.98	$55.39M	$3.16	10.80
First Merchants	$626.09M	3.83	$223.79M	$3.03	13.50

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

60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of First Merchants shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.2% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of First Merchants shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer HTBI or FRME?

In the previous week, First Merchants had 3 more articles in the media than HomeTrust Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for First Merchants and 2 mentions for HomeTrust Bancshares. HomeTrust Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.62 beat First Merchants' score of 1.01 indicating that HomeTrust Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
HomeTrust Bancshares	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
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

Is HTBI or FRME more profitable?

HomeTrust Bancshares has a net margin of 18.53% compared to First Merchants' net margin of 16.94%. HomeTrust Bancshares' return on equity of 10.41% beat First Merchants' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HomeTrust Bancshares	18.53%	10.41%	1.16%
First Merchants	16.94%	8.94%	1.08%

Do analysts rate HTBI or FRME?

HomeTrust Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $39.33, suggesting a potential upside of 15.28%. First Merchants has a consensus target price of $42.60, suggesting a potential upside of 4.18%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than First Merchants.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HomeTrust Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
First Merchants	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Summary

First Merchants beats HomeTrust Bancshares on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.