FS Bancorp (FSBW) Competitors

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

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

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.9% of FS Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of FS Bancorp shares are held 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 risk and volatility, BUSE or FSBW?

First Busey has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FS Bancorp has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer BUSE or FSBW?

First Busey presently has a consensus price target of $27.17, indicating a potential upside of 12.40%. FS Bancorp has a consensus price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.82%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than FS Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
FS Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is BUSE or FSBW a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. FS Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. 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. FS Bancorp pays out 26.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and FS Bancorp has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Does the media favor BUSE or FSBW?

In the previous week, First Busey had 2 more articles in the media than FS Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Busey and 5 mentions for FS Bancorp. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 1.62 beat FS Bancorp's score of -0.49 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
FS Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is BUSE or FSBW more profitable?

FS Bancorp has a net margin of 15.88% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. FS Bancorp's return on equity of 11.32% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%
FS Bancorp	15.88%	11.32%	1.09%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, BUSE or FSBW?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than FS Bancorp. FS 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Busey	$663.36M	3.25	$113.69M	$1.12	21.58
FS Bancorp	$206.39M	1.56	$35.02M	$4.21	10.07

Summary

First Busey beats FS Bancorp on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.