Bridgewater Bancshares (BWB) Competitors

Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.

Is BWB or BUSE more profitable?

Bridgewater Bancshares has a net margin of 14.03% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. Bridgewater Bancshares' return on equity of 9.73% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridgewater Bancshares	14.03%	9.73%	0.77%
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%

Do analysts recommend BWB or BUSE?

Bridgewater Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.19%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.33, indicating a potential upside of 11.07%. Given Bridgewater Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Bridgewater Bancshares is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridgewater Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media refer more to BWB or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 3 more articles in the media than Bridgewater Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for First Busey and 3 mentions for Bridgewater Bancshares. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 1.76 beat Bridgewater Bancshares' score of 1.64 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Bridgewater Bancshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
First Busey	5 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 more volatility & risk, BWB or BUSE?

Bridgewater Bancshares has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, BWB or BUSE?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Bridgewater Bancshares. Bridgewater Bancshares 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
Bridgewater Bancshares	$253.27M	1.81	$32.83M	$1.22	13.64
First Busey	$663.36M	3.30	$113.69M	$1.12	21.97

Do insiders and institutionals believe in BWB or BUSE?

65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.3% of Bridgewater Bancshares 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 stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Busey beats Bridgewater Bancshares on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.