MidWestOne Financial Group (MOFG) Competitors

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) and MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts prefer BUSE or MOFG?

First Busey presently has a consensus target price of $27.17, suggesting a potential upside of 22.75%. MidWestOne Financial Group has a consensus target price of $34.17, suggesting a potential upside of 27.87%. Given MidWestOne Financial Group's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe MidWestOne Financial Group is more favorable than First Busey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Busey	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
MidWestOne Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is BUSE or MOFG more profitable?

First Busey has a net margin of 9.48% compared to MidWestOne Financial Group's net margin of 0.00%. First Busey's return on equity of 9.76% beat MidWestOne Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Busey	9.48%	9.76%	1.11%
MidWestOne Financial Group	N/A	8.94%	0.80%

Is BUSE or MOFG a better dividend stock?

First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. MidWestOne Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. 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. MidWestOne Financial Group pays out -23.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in BUSE or MOFG?

56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.4% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, BUSE or MOFG?

First Busey has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MidWestOne Financial Group has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation and earnings, BUSE or MOFG?

First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than MidWestOne Financial Group. MidWestOne Financial Group 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	$663.36M	2.99	$113.69M	$1.12	19.76
MidWestOne Financial Group	$206.03M	2.70	-$60.29M	-$4.06	-6.58

Does the media prefer BUSE or MOFG?

In the previous week, First Busey had 1 more articles in the media than MidWestOne Financial Group. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for First Busey and 13 mentions for MidWestOne Financial Group. MidWestOne Financial Group's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat First Busey's score of 0.36 indicating that MidWestOne Financial Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Busey	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
MidWestOne Financial Group	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

First Busey beats MidWestOne Financial Group on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.