First Busey (BUSE) Competitors

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

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

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate BUSE or FFBC?

First Busey currently has a consensus target price of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.85%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $28.75, indicating a potential upside of 11.69%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is BUSE or FFBC a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. 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. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is BUSE or FFBC more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 18.65% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.44% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%
First Financial Bancorp.	18.65%	10.44%	1.38%

Which has better valuation & earnings, BUSE or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than First Busey. First Financial 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	3.28	$113.69M	$1.07	22.71
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.52	$228.83M	$2.41	10.68

Which has more volatility & risk, BUSE or FFBC?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer BUSE or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Busey had 4 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Busey and 3 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.41 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.34 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	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

First Busey beats First Financial Bancorp. on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.