Lakeland Financial (LKFN) Competitors

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

Is LKFN or BUSE more profitable?

Lakeland Financial has a net margin of 22.55% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. Lakeland Financial's return on equity of 13.57% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Financial	22.55%	13.57%	1.39%
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, LKFN or BUSE?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Lakeland Financial. Lakeland Financial 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
Lakeland Financial	$430M	4.04	$93.48M	$3.67	18.55
First Busey	$663.36M	3.31	$113.69M	$1.12	22.02

Which has more volatility and risk, LKFN or BUSE?

Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% 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.

Is LKFN or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Lakeland Financial pays out 54.5% 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. Lakeland Financial has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and First Busey has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in LKFN or BUSE?

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer LKFN or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 9 more articles in the media than Lakeland Financial. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for First Busey and 7 mentions for Lakeland Financial. Lakeland Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat First Busey's score of 1.36 indicating that Lakeland Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lakeland Financial	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Busey	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer LKFN or BUSE?

Lakeland Financial currently has a consensus target price of $70.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.83%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 10.83%. Given First Busey's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Busey is more favorable than Lakeland Financial.

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

Summary

Lakeland Financial and First Busey tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.