MidWestOne Financial Group (MOFG) Competitors

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) and MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, community ranking, profitability, risk and dividends.

Does the media refer more to FRME or MOFG?

In the previous week, First Merchants and First Merchants both had 3 articles in the media. First Merchants' average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat MidWestOne Financial Group's score of 0.33 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	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
MidWestOne Financial Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more volatility & risk, FRME or MOFG?

First Merchants has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MidWestOne Financial Group has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FRME or MOFG?

First Merchants currently has a consensus target price of $42.60, suggesting a potential upside of 6.58%. MidWestOne Financial Group has a consensus target price of $30.67, suggesting a potential upside of 6.15%. Given First Merchants' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than MidWestOne Financial Group.

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
MidWestOne Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is FRME or MOFG a better dividend stock?

First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. MidWestOne Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Merchants pays out 46.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MidWestOne Financial Group pays out -20.8% 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 and MidWestOne Financial Group has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FRME or MOFG?

First Merchants received 145 more outperform votes than MidWestOne Financial Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.93% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 52.58% of users gave MidWestOne Financial Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Merchants	Outperform Votes 359 59.93%	Underperform Votes 240 40.07%
MidWestOne Financial Group	Outperform Votes 214 52.58%	Underperform Votes 193 47.42%

Is FRME or MOFG more profitable?

First Merchants has a net margin of 16.94% compared to MidWestOne Financial Group's net margin of 9.79%. First Merchants' return on equity of 8.94% beat MidWestOne Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Merchants	16.94%	8.94%	1.08%
MidWestOne Financial Group	9.79%	5.13%	0.42%

Which has better valuation and earnings, FRME or MOFG?

First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than MidWestOne Financial Group. MidWestOne Financial Group 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	$626.09M	3.75	$223.79M	$3.03	13.19
MidWestOne Financial Group	$45.94M	13.07	$20.86M	-$4.67	-6.19

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FRME or MOFG?

73.9% of First Merchants shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.4% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Merchants beats MidWestOne Financial Group on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.