Merchants Bancorp (MBIN) Competitors

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

Is MBIN or BUSE 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
Merchants Bancorp	18.06%	16.06%	1.34%
First Busey	9.48%	8.76%	1.04%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MBIN or BUSE?

24.6% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.8% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned 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.

Do analysts rate MBIN or BUSE?

Merchants Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $38.33, indicating a potential upside of 21.58%. First Busey has a consensus price target of $27.33, indicating a potential upside of 11.56%. Given Merchants Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Merchants Bancorp is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merchants Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is MBIN or BUSE a better dividend stock?

Merchants Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merchants Bancorp pays out 8.8% 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. Merchants Bancorp has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to MBIN or BUSE?

In the previous week, First Busey had 5 more articles in the media than Merchants Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Busey and 3 mentions for Merchants Bancorp. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 1.85 beat Merchants Bancorp's score of 0.96 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Which has higher earnings & valuation, MBIN or BUSE?

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
Merchants Bancorp	$1.45B	1.00	$320.39M	$4.55	6.93
First Busey	$663.36M	3.29	$113.69M	$1.12	21.88

Which has more risk and volatility, MBIN or BUSE?

Merchants Bancorp has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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