Sierra Bancorp (BSRR) Competitors

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

Is BSRR or BUSE more profitable?

Sierra Bancorp has a net margin of 19.92% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. Sierra Bancorp's return on equity of 11.38% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sierra Bancorp	19.92%	11.38%	1.11%
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%

Do analysts prefer BSRR or BUSE?

Sierra Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $33.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.20%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.67, suggesting a potential upside of 15.47%. Given First Busey's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Sierra Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sierra Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 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

Do institutionals and insiders believe in BSRR or BUSE?

55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.6% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is BSRR or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Sierra Bancorp pays out 35.5% 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. Sierra Bancorp has increased its dividend for 2 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.

Which has more volatility & risk, BSRR or BUSE?

Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, BSRR or BUSE?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Sierra Bancorp. Sierra 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
Sierra Bancorp	$203.87M	2.12	$40.56M	$2.82	11.08
First Busey	$663.36M	3.23	$113.69M	$1.07	22.39

Does the media prefer BSRR or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 12 more articles in the media than Sierra Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for First Busey and 2 mentions for Sierra Bancorp. Sierra Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat First Busey's score of 1.11 indicating that Sierra Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sierra Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Busey	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

First Busey beats Sierra Bancorp on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.