First Busey (BUSE) Competitors

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

Do institutionals and insiders believe in FFBC or BUSE?

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

Is FFBC or BUSE more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 19.41% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.57% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%

Do analysts rate FFBC or BUSE?

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus target price of $29.40, indicating a potential upside of 15.61%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.33, indicating a potential upside of 12.34%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more risk and volatility, FFBC or BUSE?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FFBC or BUSE a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 40.0% 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 Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 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.

Does the media refer more to FFBC or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 1 more articles in the media than First Busey. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 6 mentions for First Busey. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 1.82 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.88 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Busey	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FFBC or BUSE?

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 Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.50	$228.83M	$2.50	10.17
First Busey	$663.36M	3.27	$113.69M	$1.12	21.72

Summary

First Financial Bancorp. beats First Busey on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.