Financial Institutions (FISI) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer FISI or BUSE?

Financial Institutions presently has a consensus price target of $33.00, indicating a potential upside of 32.64%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.17, indicating a potential upside of 21.82%. Given Financial Institutions' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Financial Institutions is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Financial Institutions	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is FISI or BUSE more profitable?

First Busey has a net margin of 9.48% compared to Financial Institutions' net margin of -4.96%. Financial Institutions' return on equity of 10.44% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Financial Institutions	-4.96%	10.44%	0.92%
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%

Which has better earnings and valuation, FISI or BUSE?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Financial Institutions. Financial Institutions 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
Financial Institutions	$366.61M	1.37	-$41.65M	-$1.52	-16.37
First Busey	$663.36M	2.99	$113.69M	$1.12	19.91

Is FISI or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Financial Institutions pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Financial Institutions pays out -81.6% 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. Financial Institutions has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Financial Institutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in FISI or BUSE?

60.5% of Financial Institutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Financial Institutions 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 stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, FISI or BUSE?

Financial Institutions has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer FISI or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 6 more articles in the media than Financial Institutions. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for First Busey and 0 mentions for Financial Institutions. Financial Institutions' average media sentiment score of 0.00 beat First Busey's score of -0.47 indicating that Financial Institutions is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Financial Institutions	Neutral
First Busey	Neutral

Summary

First Busey beats Financial Institutions on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.