BUSE vs. FFBC, FRME, HWC, PPBI, RNST, STBA, TOWN, UBSI, WSBC, and FCF
Should you be buying First Busey stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of First Busey include First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), First Merchants (FRME), Hancock Whitney (HWC), Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI), Renasant (RNST), S&T Bancorp (STBA), Towne Bank (TOWN), United Bankshares (UBSI), WesBanco (WSBC), and First Commonwealth Financial (FCF). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
First Busey vs. Its Competitors
First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.
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.
First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.
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 insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus target price of $28.75, indicating a potential upside of 12.79%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 15.28%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..
First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and First Busey has raised 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.
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.
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 Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.48 beat First Busey's score of 0.26 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Summary
First Financial Bancorp. beats First Busey on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding BUSE and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NASDAQ:BUSE) was last updated on 7/8/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff