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 compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, media sentiment, valuation and institutional ownership.

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 3.1%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Lakeland Financial pays out 57.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 93.5% 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 increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Which has more risk and volatility, LKFN or BUSE?

Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is LKFN or BUSE more profitable?

Lakeland Financial has a net margin of 21.08% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. Lakeland Financial's return on equity of 12.71% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Financial	21.08%	12.71%	1.30%
First Busey	8.32%	8.46%	0.96%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, 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	3.88	$93.48M	$3.50	18.67
First Busey	$663.36M	3.29	$113.69M	$1.07	22.81

Do analysts rate LKFN or BUSE?

Lakeland Financial presently has a consensus target price of $68.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.84%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.67, suggesting a potential upside of 13.36%. Given First Busey's higher probable 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

Does the media favor LKFN or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 16 more articles in the media than Lakeland Financial. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for First Busey and 1 mentions for Lakeland Financial. Lakeland Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.76 beat First Busey's score of 0.57 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	1 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)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

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