Lakeland Financial (LKFN) Competitors

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

Is BUSE or LKFN a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. First Busey pays out 48.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lakeland Financial pays out 53.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Lakeland Financial has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is BUSE or LKFN more profitable?

Lakeland Financial has a net margin of 23.70% compared to First Busey's net margin of 17.18%. Lakeland Financial's return on equity of 14.72% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	17.18%	9.10%	0.96%
Lakeland Financial	23.70%	14.72%	1.42%

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

56.5% of First Busey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of First Busey shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer BUSE or LKFN?

First Busey received 2 more outperform votes than Lakeland Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 56.60% of users gave Lakeland Financial an outperform vote while only 54.51% of users gave First Busey an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Busey	Outperform Votes 375 54.51%	Underperform Votes 313 45.49%
Lakeland Financial	Outperform Votes 373 56.60%	Underperform Votes 286 43.40%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, BUSE or LKFN?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Lakeland Financial. First Busey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lakeland Financial, 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	$444.45M	3.32	$122.57M	$1.98	13.13
Lakeland Financial	$253.80M	6.51	$93.77M	$3.62	17.90

Does the media favor BUSE or LKFN?

In the previous week, First Busey had 3 more articles in the media than Lakeland Financial. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for First Busey and 2 mentions for Lakeland Financial. Lakeland Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.56 beat First Busey's score of 0.49 indicating that Lakeland Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Do analysts prefer BUSE or LKFN?

First Busey presently has a consensus price target of $28.60, indicating a potential upside of 10.00%. Lakeland Financial has a consensus price target of $71.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.57%. Given First Busey's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than Lakeland Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Lakeland Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has more risk and volatility, BUSE or LKFN?

First Busey has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Busey beats Lakeland Financial on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.