WSBC vs. FRME, SFNC, WAFD, CSFL, WSFS, BPOP, ZION, PNFP, WTFC, and PB
Should you be buying WesBanco stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of WesBanco include First Merchants (FRME), Simmons First National (SFNC), WaFd (WAFD), Centerstate Bank (CSFL), WSFS Financial (WSFS), Popular (BPOP), Zions Bancorporation, National Association (ZION), Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP), Wintrust Financial (WTFC), and Prosperity Bancshares (PB). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and valuation.
First Merchants has a net margin of 20.15% compared to First Merchants' net margin of 17.52%. WesBanco's return on equity of 10.21% beat First Merchants' return on equity.
First Merchants pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. First Merchants pays out 39.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WesBanco pays out 60.0% 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 12 consecutive years and WesBanco has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. WesBanco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
In the previous week, First Merchants had 4 more articles in the media than WesBanco. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for First Merchants and 1 mentions for WesBanco. WesBanco's average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat First Merchants' score of 1.61 indicating that First Merchants is being referred to more favorably in the media.
First Merchants received 89 more outperform votes than WesBanco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.73% of users gave First Merchants an outperform vote while only 51.46% of users gave WesBanco an outperform vote.
First Merchants has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WesBanco has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.
First Merchants presently has a consensus price target of $41.25, indicating a potential upside of 24.81%. WesBanco has a consensus price target of $30.60, indicating a potential upside of 10.87%. Given WesBanco's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Merchants is more favorable than WesBanco.
73.9% of First Merchants shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of WesBanco shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of First Merchants shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of WesBanco shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
First Merchants has higher revenue and earnings than WesBanco. First Merchants is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WesBanco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
First Merchants beats WesBanco on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding WSBC and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartThis chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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