Amerant Bancorp (AMTB) Competitors

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

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of AMTB or BUSE?

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

Is AMTB or BUSE 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
Amerant Bancorp	-8.38%	6.36%	0.51%
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, AMTB or BUSE?

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
Amerant Bancorp	$330.31M	2.55	-$15.75M	-$0.20	-100.72
First Busey	$663.36M	3.24	$113.69M	$1.12	21.54

Which has more risk and volatility, AMTB or BUSE?

Amerant Bancorp has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor AMTB or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 8 more articles in the media than Amerant Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Busey and 0 mentions for Amerant Bancorp. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.71 beat Amerant Bancorp's score of 0.00 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Amerant Bancorp	Neutral
First Busey	Positive

Is AMTB or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Amerant Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Amerant Bancorp pays out -180.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. First Busey has raised 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.

Do analysts prefer AMTB or BUSE?

Amerant Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $24.25, suggesting a potential upside of 20.38%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 13.32%. Given Amerant Bancorp's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Amerant Bancorp is more favorable than First Busey.

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

Summary

First Busey beats Amerant Bancorp on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.