Merchants Bancorp (MBIN) Competitors

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

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of BUSE or MBIN?

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.6% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 34.8% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, BUSE or MBIN?

First Busey has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Merchants Bancorp has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer BUSE or MBIN?

In the previous week, First Busey had 1 more articles in the media than Merchants Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for First Busey and 2 mentions for Merchants Bancorp. Merchants Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat First Busey's score of 0.05 indicating that Merchants Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Is BUSE or MBIN more profitable?

Merchants Bancorp has a net margin of 18.06% compared to First Busey's net margin of 9.48%. Merchants Bancorp's return on equity of 16.06% beat First Busey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%
Merchants Bancorp	18.06%	16.06%	1.34%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, BUSE or MBIN?

Merchants Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Busey. Merchants 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	$557.44M	3.70	$113.69M	$1.12	20.70
Merchants Bancorp	$664.66M	2.21	$320.39M	$4.55	7.05

Do analysts prefer BUSE or MBIN?

First Busey currently has a consensus target price of $27.33, suggesting a potential upside of 17.92%. Merchants Bancorp has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.73%. Given Merchants Bancorp's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Merchants Bancorp is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Merchants Bancorp	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is BUSE or MBIN a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Merchants Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. 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. Merchants Bancorp pays out 8.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Merchants Bancorp has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

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