First Busey (BUSE) Competitors

Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ:COLB) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor COLB or BUSE?

First Busey received 108 more outperform votes than Columbia Banking System when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.14% of users gave First Busey an outperform vote while only 42.21% of users gave Columbia Banking System an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Columbia Banking System	Outperform Votes 271 42.21%	Underperform Votes 371 57.79%
First Busey	Outperform Votes 379 54.14%	Underperform Votes 321 45.86%

Do analysts recommend COLB or BUSE?

Columbia Banking System currently has a consensus target price of $29.85, indicating a potential upside of 30.34%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.80, indicating a potential upside of 32.89%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Columbia Banking System.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Columbia Banking System	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.31
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in COLB or BUSE?

92.5% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Columbia Banking System shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better valuation and earnings, COLB or BUSE?

Columbia Banking System has higher revenue and earnings than First Busey. Columbia Banking System 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
Columbia Banking System	$1.95B	2.47	$533.67M	$2.36	9.70
First Busey	$475.63M	2.51	$113.69M	$1.07	19.55

Is COLB or BUSE more profitable?

Columbia Banking System has a net margin of 17.99% compared to First Busey's net margin of 17.14%. Columbia Banking System's return on equity of 11.21% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Columbia Banking System	17.99%	11.21%	1.10%
First Busey	17.14%	8.94%	1.00%

Is COLB or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Columbia Banking System pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Columbia Banking System pays out 61.0% 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. Columbia Banking System is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to COLB or BUSE?

In the previous week, Columbia Banking System had 10 more articles in the media than First Busey. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Columbia Banking System and 21 mentions for First Busey. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Columbia Banking System's score of 0.69 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Columbia Banking System	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Busey	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, COLB or BUSE?

Columbia Banking System has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Columbia Banking System beats First Busey on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.