Carter Bankshares (CARE) Competitors

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

Is BUSE or CARE more profitable?

Carter Bankshares has a net margin of 12.58% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. First Busey's return on equity of 8.76% beat Carter Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%
Carter Bankshares	12.58%	7.68%	0.65%

Do analysts prefer BUSE or CARE?

First Busey currently has a consensus price target of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 17.97%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than Carter Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Carter Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more risk & volatility, BUSE or CARE?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carter Bankshares has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer BUSE or CARE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 6 more articles in the media than Carter Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Busey and 1 mentions for Carter Bankshares. Carter Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat First Busey's score of -0.09 indicating that Carter Bankshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Carter Bankshares	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BUSE or CARE?

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.5% of Carter Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Carter Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better earnings and valuation, BUSE or CARE?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Carter Bankshares. Carter Bankshares 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	$557.44M	3.70	$113.69M	$1.12	20.69
Carter Bankshares	$139.20M	3.10	$24.27M	$1.36	14.01

Summary

First Busey beats Carter Bankshares on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.