Amerant Bancorp (AMTB) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, BUSE or AMTB?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Amerant Bancorp. Amerant Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, 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 Busey	$663.36M	3.19	$113.69M	$1.12	21.21
Amerant Bancorp	$330.31M	2.41	-$15.75M	-$0.20	-95.35

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in BUSE or AMTB?

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.1% of Amerant Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Amerant Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is BUSE or AMTB a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Amerant Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. First Busey pays out 89.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Amerant Bancorp pays out -180.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor BUSE or AMTB?

In the previous week, First Busey had 3 more articles in the media than Amerant Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for First Busey and 2 mentions for Amerant Bancorp. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.50 beat Amerant Bancorp's score of 0.00 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Amerant Bancorp	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts rate BUSE or AMTB?

First Busey currently has a consensus price target of $27.33, indicating a potential upside of 15.09%. Amerant Bancorp has a consensus price target of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.85%. Given Amerant Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Amerant Bancorp is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Amerant Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more volatility & risk, BUSE or AMTB?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amerant Bancorp has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BUSE or AMTB more profitable?

First Busey has a net margin of 9.48% compared to Amerant Bancorp's net margin of -8.38%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.76% beat Amerant Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%
Amerant Bancorp	-8.38%	6.36%	0.51%

Summary

First Busey beats Amerant Bancorp on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.