Arrow Financial (AROW) Competitors

Arrow Financial (NASDAQ:AROW) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, profitability and dividends.

Do analysts prefer AROW or BUSE?

Arrow Financial currently has a consensus price target of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.82%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.67, suggesting a potential upside of 15.47%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Arrow Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arrow Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more volatility and risk, AROW or BUSE?

Arrow Financial has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AROW or BUSE more profitable?

Arrow Financial has a net margin of 12.51% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.46% beat Arrow Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arrow Financial	12.51%	8.01%	0.73%
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, AROW or BUSE?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Arrow Financial. Arrow Financial 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
Arrow Financial	$223.07M	2.02	$29.71M	$1.70	15.92
First Busey	$663.36M	3.23	$113.69M	$1.07	22.39

Does the media refer more to AROW or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 11 more articles in the media than Arrow Financial. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for First Busey and 2 mentions for Arrow Financial. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat Arrow Financial's score of 0.93 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Arrow Financial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Busey	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

46.7% of Arrow Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Arrow Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AROW or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Arrow Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Arrow Financial pays out 65.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 93.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Arrow Financial has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and 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.

Summary

First Busey beats Arrow Financial on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.